Authors

Madison Beck

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2020

Abstract

In late 2018, the Trump Administration introduced Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also known as the Remain in Mexico Policy, to curb illegal immigration. The protocols allow the U.S. to remove immigrants, including asylum seekers, to Mexico while their claims are processed. This is problematic on its own, but even more so during the COVID-19 pandemic; makeshift asylum tent-camps are home to thousands of vulnerable individuals where viral spread would be devastating. Additionally, in March 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an “order suspending introduction of certain persons from countries where a communicable disease exists” further worsening conditions for asylum seekers entering the U.S. through Mexico. Not only are these policies inhumane, but they infringe on the constitutional rights of asylum seekers who by law are required to enter the U.S. to gain eligibility for the asylum process. By analyzing both the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments which guarantee the rights to life, liberty, and property of any person in the U.S. this paper shows the unconstitutionality of these policies, and demonstrates viable solutions to ensure the rights to life and liberty are respected and guaranteed by the U.S. government and its agencies.

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