Thread by @KarenTumlin

Here's my take on what today's memo from @AliMayorkas formally ending the MPP program means--and what it still leaves left to be done.

For those wanting to nerd out. Here's the memo: dhs.gov/sites/default/…

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Why did this happen today? Remember that on Feb. 2, 2021 Biden issued an executive order that paused the MPP program and required the Secretary of DHS to promptly review the program & decide whether to formally terminate it. That formal termination came today via this memo. 2/7

But MPP had been paused long before that. MPP court hearings stopped on March 23, 2020 due to the pandemic--leaving many asylum seekers in legal limbo while forced to wait outside the U.S. in unsafe conditions.

So what is new today...?

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Here's the 💰 quote in today's memo: "The termination of MPP does not impact the status of individuals who were enrolled in MPP at any
stage of their proceedings before EOIR or the phased entry process describe above."

In short this means there is much more work to be done. 4/7

What that legalese quote means is that today's memo doesn't change the ability of people once subject to MPP to seek asylum. So, for folks who are still waiting in Mexico and who have not yet qualified to be in-processed for asylum proceedings, today's memo doesn't help them. 5/7

Today's memo doesn't help the hundreds of unaccompanied kids who were once in MPP & are now in the U.S. It does not ensure they can properly seek asylum. It doesn't help individuals who were in MPP & due to the dangers of waiting in Mexico entered the U.S. without permission. 6/7

I welcome the formal end of the MPP program. (DO let the door hit you on the way out, MPP.) But, it isn't enough. Until EVERY SINGLE HUMAN who was subjected to this horrific program is able to safely seek asylum the program will not have ended. #WelcomeWithDignity 7/7