Republicans are wasting no time charting a new course on immigration as President-elect Donald Trump gears up to reclaim the Oval Office. On Thursday, GOP lawmakers in both chambers unveiled legislation aimed at reinstating the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), widely known as the “Remain in Mexico” program. First introduced in 2019 during Trump’s initial term, the policy required asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while their U.S. immigration cases were processed. Naturally, President Joe Biden scrapped the policy in 2021, opting for the infamous “catch-and-release” strategy that critics say opened the floodgates to a tidal wave of illegal immigration.
Senate Republicans, clearly fed up with the border chaos, held a hearing on Thursday to underscore the urgency of reviving the MPP. This time, however, they’re playing for keeps by pushing to enshrine the policy into federal law. Their reasoning is simple: a law is far harder to overturn than an executive order, and they’re determined to ensure that Biden’s open-border experiment can’t easily return. Codifying the policy would mean that asylum seekers would face real consequences for illegal entry instead of being released into the U.S. with nothing but a court date—and let’s be honest, most skip that date anyway.
Leading the charge is Texas Representative Roger Williams, the architect of the “Make MPP Mandatory Act.” Williams didn’t hold back in his critique of Biden’s border policies, accusing the outgoing president of jeopardizing American lives and turning the southern border into a free-for-all. His bill, along with companion proposals from freshman Representative Brandon Gill and Senator Marsha Blackburn, seeks to restore law and order by requiring asylum seekers to remain in their countries of origin until their hearings. Williams called the legislation a necessary step to reestablish the rule of law and prioritize the safety of American citizens—a welcome change from the chaos of the past four years.
Senator Blackburn’s “CLEAR Act” takes an even tougher stance by granting state and local governments the authority to enforce federal immigration laws. Under this legislation, local jurisdictions would have the power to apprehend, detain, and transfer illegal migrants to federal custody, effectively deputizing local authorities to tackle the border crisis head-on. Blackburn didn’t mince words, blaming Biden’s open-border policies for the surge in illegal immigration and linking his inaction to the tragic deaths of innocent Americans. For Blackburn, Biden’s tenure represents a masterclass in how not to handle border security, and her legislation aims to prevent such failures from ever happening again.
As Trump’s inauguration draws near, Republicans are wasting no time setting the stage for a bold immigration overhaul. With plans to codify the “Remain in Mexico” policy and expand enforcement authority at the state and local levels, they’re sending a clear message: Biden’s border blunders will not be tolerated. While the fate of these proposals in a divided Congress remains uncertain, one thing is for sure—Republicans are ready to turn the page on the past four years of border mismanagement and put America back on the path to secure borders and restored order.
