In partnership with a coalition of immigrant and children’s rights organizations, Milbank LLP filed an amicus brief on January 22, 2021, urging the US Supreme Court to end Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). Also known as the Remain in Mexico policy, MPP was introduced by the Trump administration in 2018 and has forced more than 70,000 asylum-seekers, including thousands of children, to remain in dangerous conditions in Mexico while awaiting hearings on their asylum claims.
Despite federal law and international treaties prohibiting the return of asylum-seekers to countries where they face danger, persecution, threats or harm, MPP returns these individuals to Northern Mexico before or while their protection claims are decided and prevents immigration officers from hearing their credible fears.
In the amicus brief, Milbank and the civil rights organizations, which include the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, Kids in Need of Defense, Angry Tias and Abuelas of the Rio Grande Valley, Center for the Human Rights of Children at Loyola University Chicago, School of Law, Children’s Defense Fund, First Focus on Children, Save the Children Action Network and Save the Children, argue that MPP is unlawful and outline the policy’s harmful consequences for children.
The amicus brief outlines how MPP uniquely affects children, as the policy does not consider their best interests and lacks the procedural safeguards to ensure their safety, violating the basic standards of due process. Most children who attend their MPP hearings do not have counsel as they face complex legal proceedings and are not informed about their right to file an asylum application separately from their parent or guardian based on their unique claims. The brief also tells the stories of children who were negatively impacted by MPP to illustrate the policy’s devastating long-term effects, which compound the physical and psychological trauma that many children already experienced in their countries of origin.
While the Biden administration suspended new enrollments in MPP on January 20, 2021, thousands of families and children remain subjected to the program.
The Milbank pro bono team was led by senior consulting partner Linda Dakin-Grimm and partner Mark Shinderman with associates Margherita Capolino, Gary Crosby, Will Denker, Katie Cavins and Monica Grover.
“The Migrant Protection Protocols program clearly violates both federal law and international treaties and has caused tremendous harm to families that have come to the United States seeking safety,” Mr. Shinderman said. “We are proud to work in partnership with this coalition of committed immigrant and children’s rights organizations as we urge the Supreme Court to end programs that continue to place our most vulnerable individuals in harm’s way.”
