100+ Organizations and Human Rights Defenders Urge the Mexican Government to Reject the Reimplementation of “Remain in Mexico”

Dra. Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo
Constitutional President of the United Mexican States

Dr. Juan Ramón de la Fuente
Secretary of Foreign Affairs

Lic. Sergio Salomón Céspedes
Commissioner of the National Institute of Migration

The organizations and human rights defenders of people on the move who sign this letter respectfully address you to express our deep concern regarding the possibility that the Government of Mexico may accept or collaborate with the Government of the United States in a new implementation of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), commonly known as “Remain in Mexico.”

In 2025, with the arrival of a new administration in the United States, an executive order entitled “Securing Our Borders” was issued, introducing substantial changes to border control policies by prioritizing detention and deterrence measures. Among these policies is the reinstatement of MPP, a program which, as you are aware, forces asylum seekers to remain in Mexican territory—often under high-risk conditions—while their cases are processed in U.S. courts, with severely limited access to legal representation.

The reactivation of MPP was announced by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, although no specific date was provided for the formal restart of its operations. Subsequently, in July 2025, an appeal court  determined that the current U.S. administration could partially resume the program while the court evaluated its arguments, opening the possibility that the Department of Homeland Security could return certain individuals to Mexico under this program. In recent days, various sources have warned that the U.S. administration could resume returns to Mexico  under the MPP framework, including for families with children detained within the interior of the country or with ongoing immigration proceedings, and not only individuals located in the U.S.–Mexico border.

We warn that the restoration of this program would significantly worsen the already precarious human rights situation at the U.S.-Mexico border. As has been widely documented—and even acknowledged by U.S. authorities when calling for  termination of of the program—MPP exposes individuals in need of international protection to serious risks, including kidnapping, extortion, sexual violence, human trafficking, and other abuses, in addition to undermining their right to seek asylum and to due process.

During its first implementation, between 2019 and 2021, approximately 70,000 people were returned to Mexico without adequate measures to address their particular specific needs or to guarantee respect for their human rights. This lack of safeguards left thousands of people without effective access to basic rights such as health care, children’s education, and formal employment. Various international organizations and civil society organizations documented that one of the main consequences of this policy was the systematic exposure of returned individuals to organized crime networks in different border regions. Among the most grave violations recorded were acts of violence, kidnappings and enforced disappearances, acid burns, fractures and beatings, as well as multiple forms of gender-based violence, particularly sexual violence and abuse against women and girls of all ages.

Although MPP was suspended during the previous U.S. administration, a federal court order allowed its reinstatement, resulting in the return of an additional 7,505 asylum seekers to Mexico under this program between December 2021 and August 2022, once again leading to human rights violations.

It is essential to emphasize that the implementation of MPP necessarily requires the consent and coordination of the Mexican government. In this regard, we recall that Mexico’s Supreme Court, in ruling on Amparo in Review 302/2020, recognized the responsibility of Mexican authorities for failing to establish protocols or guidelines for the reception of individuals returned from the United States under a migration policy with a gender, childhood, and disability perspective. In that decision, the Court expressly ordered the authorities to refrain from receiving returned migrants without the prior publication in the Official Gazette of the Federation, of guidelines guaranteeing protection measures, the issuance of migration documentation, and effective access to rights.

Likewise, we warn that MPP constitutes a policy of externalization of migration control and coercion by the Government of the United States, by transferring international protection responsibilities to a country that has not guaranteed adequate conditions of safety, protection, or access to rights for returned individuals. This practice runs counter to the principles of international cooperation, non-refoulement, and international refugee law.

For the foregoing reasons, and in order to safeguard safety, dignity, and human rights, we urge you to categorically reject any reimplementation of the MPP program and to strictly observe the ruling of the Supreme Court.

The Mexican State has a constitutional and international obligation to respect, protect, and guarantee the human rights of all persons, without discrimination of any kind. The reimplementation of MPP could be incompatible with these commitments and with a migration policy based on a humanist, human-rights based, and intersectional approach. We reiterate our willingness to contribute constructively to a bilateral dialogue with the United States that ensures the effective protection of people in contexts of mobility.

Sincerely,

Signatory civil society organizations:

1. Al Otro Lado
2. AMUMRA – Asociación Civil de Derechos Humanos Mujeres Unidas Migrantes y Refugiadas en Argentina
3. Asociación de Venezolanos en México (Venemex)
4. Asylum Access Mx
5. Bloque Latinoamericano sobre Migración: Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS), Comisión Argentina para los Refugiados y Migrantes (CAREF), Red Nacional de Líderes Migrantes en Argentina, Cáritas Brasileira, Centro de Direitos Humanos e Cidadania do Imigrante – CDHIC – Brasil, Instituto Migrações e Direitos Humanos, Clínica Jurídica de Migrantes y Refugiados de la Universidad Diego Portales-Chile,Fundación de Ayuda Social de las Iglesias Cristianas (FASIC), Secretariado Nacional de Pastoral Social-Caritas Colombia, Servicio Jesuita a Refugiados Ecuador (SJR-Ecuador), Asociación Comité de Familiares de Migrantes Fallecidos y Desaparecidos de El Salvador (COFAMIDE) – El Salvador, Cristosal, Advancing Human Rights in Central America – El Salvador, Asociación RUMIÑAHUI. Red de Ecuatorianos en Europa, Centro de Atención y Desarrollo Integral Migrante (CADIM), Federación Zacatecana de Migrantes, Latinas en el Poder, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR), South Texas Human Rights Center (El Centro de Derechos Humanos Del Sur de Texas), Coalición de Derechos Humanos, Tucson, Arizona, Asociación Coordinadora Comunitaria de Servicios para la Salud (ACCSS), Asociación de Familiares de Migrantes Desaparecidos de Guatemala (AFAMIDEG), Asociación Pop No’j – Guatemala, Equipo de Estudios Comunitarios y Acción Psicosocial (ECAP), Grupo Articulador de la Sociedad Civil en Materia Migratoria para Guatemala, Mesa de Coordinación Transfronteriza Migraciones y Género (MTMG), Action Secours Ambulance (ASA), Asociación Hermanas Scalabrinianas/Pastoral de Movilidad Humana, Plateforme des Organisations Nationales et Territoriales de la Societe Civile Haitienne (PONT-SCH) – Haití, Comisión de Acción Social Menonita (CASM)- Honduras, Comité de Familiares de Migrantes Desaparecidos del Centro de Honduras (COFAMICENH)-Honduras, Comité de Familiares de Migrantes Desaparecidos del Progreso (COFAMIPRO)- Honduras, Foro Nacional para las Migraciones en Honduras (FONAMIH)- Honduras, Organismo Cristiano de Desarrollo Integral de Honduras (OCDIH)- Honduras, Asylum Access México. (AAMX) – México, Casa del Migrante de Saltillo (CDMS)- México, Casa Monarca Ayuda Humanitaria al Migrante- México, Centro de Atención a la Familia Migrante Indígena (CAFAMI)- México, Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña-Tlachinollan (CDHM)- México, Estancia del Migrante González y Martínez- México, FM4 Paso Libre-México, Formación y Capacitación (FOCA)-México, Iniciativa Ciudadana para la Promoción de la Cultura del Diálogo (ICPCD)- México, Iniciativa Kino A. C, Instituto para las Mujeres en la Migración (IMUMI)- México, Proyecto de Derechos Humanos, Económicos, Sociales y Culturales A.C (Prodesc)-México, Red Pedro Pantoja Zona Norte- México, Red de Documentación de las Organizaciones Defensoras de Migrantes (REDODEM)- México, Red de Mujeres del Bajío AC-México, Unión Nacional de Organizaciones Regionales Campesinas Autónomas. A.C. (UNORCA A.C.), Red Nacional de Jornaleros y Jornaleras Agrícolas, Servicio Ecuménico para la Dignidad Humana (SEDHU), CTA de Trabajadores, Fundación para la Justicia y el Estado Democrático de Derecho (FJEDD), Red de las Américas sobre Nacionalidad y Apatridia (Red ANA), Red Mesoamericana Mujer Salud y Migración (RMMSYM)- México y Centroamérica, Living Water Community, Red Jesuita con Migrantes Latinoamérica y el Caribe (RJM LAC)-Regional, Red Sudamericana para las Migraciones Ambientales (RESAMA)- Regional, International Detention Coalition (IDC)- Regional/Global, Red Internacional de Migración y Desarrollo (RIMD).
6. Casanicolás
7. Casa del Migrante Frontera Digna
8. Centro de Atención Integral a la Mujer Guatemala (CAIM)
9. Centro para Migrantes Jesús Torres 24/7
10. CHIRLA MÉXICO –  Coalición Pro Derechos Humanos del Inmigrante, A.C.
11. Clínica Jurídica “Alaíde Foppa” para Personas Refugiadas Universidad Iberoamericana
12. Colectiva Narrando Fronteras desde los Feminismos
13. Colectivo Migrar Cuidando
14. Comisión de Acción Social Menonita (CASM)
15. Consultoría para los derechos humanos y el desplazamiento – CODHES, Colombia.
16. Derechos Humanos Integrales en Acción (DHIA)
17. Escuela Ruta Migrante
18. Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project
19. Fundación Cristosal
20. Fundación Humano y Libre
21. Fundación para la Justicia
22. Fundación Scalabrini de México, AC
23. Global Exchange
24. Grupo de Trabajo Sobre Política Migratoria-GTPM: Aldeas Infantiles SOS México, I.A.P.; American Friends Services Committee; Apoyo a Migrantes Venezolanos, A.C.; Asylum Access México (AAMX) A.C.; Casa del Migrante Saltillo (Frontera con Justicia A.C.); Centro de Atención a la Familia Migrante Indígena, CAFAMI; Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Matías de Córdova, A.C.; Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos; Fundación Appleseed México, A.C.; DHIA. Derechos Humanos Integrales en Acción, A.C.; IMUMI Instituto para las Mujeres en la Migración; Iniciativa Ciudadana para la Promoción de la Cultura del Diálogo, A.C.; Paso de Esperanza A.C.; REDIM Red por los Derechos de la Infancia en México; Sin Fronteras, IAP; Servicio Jesuita a Refugiados; SMR Scalabrinianas: Misión con Migrantes y Refugiados; Leticia Calderón, Analista en temas migratorios; Manuel Ángel Castillo, Investigador; Gloria Ciria Valdéz Gardea, fundadora y coordinadora del Seminario Niñez Migrante; IDC International Detention Coalition (Observadoras). Melissa Vertiz Hernández, Secretaria Técnica.
25. Hope Border Institute – Instituto Fronterizo Esperanza
26. Human Rights First (HRF)
27. Instituto para las Mujeres en la Migración, AC (IMUMI)
28. International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP)
29. Justice in Motion
30. Latin America Working Group (LAWG)
31. Latinas en Poder
32. Mujeres colombianas en México
33. Núcleo de Estudos Interdisciplinares em Migrações, Mobilidades e Gestão Contemporânea de Populações – MIGRA (UFPE/Brasil)
34. Oficina en Washington para Asuntos Latinoamericanos (WOLA)
35. Programa de Asuntos Migratorios de la Universidad Iberoamericana Ciudad de México
36. Pueblos y Comunidades Indígenas Transfronterizos
37. Red Mesoamericana Mujer, Salud y Migración (RMMSyM)
38. Refugees International
39. Resama – Red Sudamericana para las Migraciones Ambientales
40. Scalabrinianas Misión con Migrantes y Refugiados-SMR
41. The Center for Engagement and Advocacy in the Americas (CEDA)
42. Tochan-Sueños y Realidades A.C.
43. Unitarian Universalist Service Committee

Human rights defenders and individuals:

1. Alejandra Reyes
2. Alberto Quiroz Ávila
3. Amarela Varela Huerta
4. Ana Kromberg
5. Ana Paula Bucio Pérez
6. Diana Vázquez Morán
7. Evelyne Sinquin Feuillye
8. Francisco J D Angelo Ohep
9. Gabriela Hernandez Chalte
10. Julia Ferreira Scavitti
11. Kelly Johana Henao Castrillón
12. Leticia Calderon Chelius
13. Liliana Martinez
14. Manuel Ángel Castillo
15. Maricela Reyes Diaz
16. May-ek Querales Mendoza
17. Mon Bustamante
18. Mónica Salmón Gómez
19. Sandra Milena García Betancur
20. Tania Meredith Maldonado Flores