The Department of Justice and the Executive Office for Immigration Review announced Friday that it will not resume hearings under the Migrant Protection Protocols until certain criteria are met. Those criteria are as follows:

  1. Texas, Arizona, and California must all be in Phase 3 of their reopening plans;
  2. The Department of State and the Center for Disease Control must lower their Global Health Advisories to Level 2, and/or institute a comparable change regarding Mexico in particular; and
  3. The Government of Mexico must categorize all Mexican border states as “yellow” in their stoplight system.

Given the current level of crisis, we have no way of knowing when hearings in MPP cases will resume. This creates a number of issues for attorneys and asylum seekers. For attorneys, they have no way of knowing when their case will go forward, and preparation continues to be very difficult given the uncertainty. For asylum seekers, they are stuck in what is likely unsafe conditions indefinitely, often without stable employment or housing.

Once again, asylum seekers pay a steep price for this administration’s policies, many of whom have risked their lives to reach our borders in search of safety.

If you’re an attorney, please consider helping an asylum seeker by signing up to represent one pro bono. If you’d like to support our work, please consider making a tax deductible donation.