I Visited Biden’s MPP Tent Courts
More than two years after visiting the Trump administration’s “Migrant Protection Protocols” (MPP) tent courts in Laredo, Texas, I returned to see how they had changed under the Biden administration. While some changes have been made, they haven’t resolved the program’s biggest flaws, such as the danger asylum seekers face in Mexico, low rates of legal representation, and barriers to adequately preparing a case. There is no way to reform MPP—the only way to end these violations of due process and human rights is to end the program.
Under MPP, asylum seekers are returned to Mexico during their immigration proceedings, coming to the border for each hearing. In Brownsville and Laredo, Texas, temporary facilities were built for the hearings—large tents over a complex of shipping containers and trailers.