The White House defended President Joe Biden’s decision Thursday to end former President Donald Trump’s effective “Remain in Mexico” policy for migrants.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki described Trump’s policy as “problematic” for migrants.
“We’ve been clear in our assessment that the MPP program — more commonly known as Remain in Mexico — was quite problematic,” she said during the daily press briefing.
Biden’s Department of Homeland Security ended the Remain in Mexico policy officially on Tuesday, despite its effectiveness in reducing asylum fraud.
“It led to dangerous and inhumane conditions along Mexico’s northern border, in part because of the camps and the conditions at the camps,” Psaki said.
The Trump-era policy forced migrants claiming asylum in the United States to wait in Mexico until their claim was processed, rather than enjoying life in the United States.
The flood of migrants to the Southern border slowed down as a result, as those planning asylum fraud realized it was less likely that they would get approved.
Of the more than 71,000 Remain in Mexico asylum cases, less than one percent have been found to have a legitimate asylum claim to stay in the United States as Breitbart reporter John Binder has noted.
Former President Donald Trump berated Biden for ending the policy, accusing him of facilitating a disaster at the border.
“The Biden administration inherited the most secure border in history, and they turned it into the greatest border disaster in history,” he wrote in a statement on Wednesday.