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The Biden administration has ended the Migrant Protection Protocols, the Trump-era policy that returned asylum seekers to Mexico until their court dates, according to a memo from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. After President Joe Biden took office, DHS suspended new enrollments to the so-called “Remain in Mexico” program and started slowly allowing asylum seekers into the U.S. The memo said between Feb. 19 and May 25, about 11,200 migrants were processed into the U.S. Immigrant advocates called the announcement a “huge victory.” CNN
In other federal immigration news…
Biden Administration Speeding Up Court Cases for Families at the Border
On Friday, the Biden administration announced it is aiming to speed up cases for immigrant families at courts in 10 U.S. cities, and will not detain them when they cross the border. The Biden administration is still expelling single migrant adults who arrive at the border under a pandemic health rule. But it has slowly began allowing migrant families to await their court cases in the U.S., especially after Mexico passed a law prohibiting undocumented children from being held in detention centers. The Biden administration said it is speeding up cases in Denver, Detroit, El Paso, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New York City, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle because they have the most judges to handle the cases. BuzzFeed News
Biden Plans to Expand Legal Immigration
The New York Times obtained a 46-page draft that explains the Biden administration’s plans to expand legal immigration, reversing former President Donald Trump’s policies. Under Trump, the average time it took to get an employer-sponsored green card doubled, the backlog of citizenship applications grew by 80 percent and the approval rate for the U-visa program went from five months to five years. The document, divided into seven sections, details policy proposals that would help migrants move to the U.S., including skilled workers, trafficking victims, asylum seekers, migrants and more. The New York Times
