Editor’s note: This article has been updated with a statement from the Department of Homeland Security regarding the Migrant Protection Protocols program.
SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — A group that works with asylum-seekers has released a video featuring several people asking President Joe Biden to do away with the current “Remain in Mexico” order issued by the Trump administration in 2019.
Most of the asylum-seekers who participated recorded messages in Spanish requesting Biden to end the policy that forces them to wait in Mexico as their cases play out in courtrooms north of the border.
PSF Caravan produced the video in Tijuana and posted it on YouTube.
One woman says in the video that having to stay in Mexico “has been harmful and traumatizing for men, women and children.”
Another asylum seeker says “inside the United States is freedom.”
Biden did not mention immigration during his inauguration speech, but many believe he will do away with the “Remain in Mexico” — which is formally known as the Migrant Protection Protocols program — order in the near future.
On Wednesday evening, the Department of Homeland Security announced that starting Thursday, it will stop adding individuals to the MPP program. However, the agency warned that non-essential travel restrictions remain in place and individuals who are in the MPP program must remain where they are “pending further official information from U.S. government officials.”
DHS also notes that Biden’s proposed path to citizenship applies only to individuals who are already in the U.S.
“Individuals outside of the United States will not be eligible for legal status” under President Biden’s immigration bill, the statement said.
It is estimated that 23,000 people are in Mexico in cities like Tijuana waiting in limbo hoping to gain access north of the border and their day in court. Thousands more have given up on pursuing asylum and have returned to their home countries.
