5. Department of Homeland Security · Notable · Needs Congress
Update the statutory basis for the Remain in Mexico program
Printed page 149 5. Department of Homeland Security
“Migrant protection protocols. Update the statutory language providing the basis for the Remain in Mexico program as needed to withstand judicial scrutiny and executive inaction.”
What has happened
- Not started
Congress has not touched INA section 235(b)(2)(C), the provision that carries Remain in Mexico. The administration restarted the program by executive action under EO 14165 section 6, which is exactly the judicially vulnerable position the Quote wants legislation to cure. Bills to mandate the program were introduced in both chambers and neither moved.
No action found yet. This entry is the starting point, not a finding.
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
A Requires-Congress ask about the statutory basis for Remain in Mexico. The policy itself is #368, which is partial.
Searched, in the federal records we keep (fetched 2026-08-28): presidential documents, final rules, proposed rules and notices in the Federal Register, filtered to DHS and its components; bills in Congress and public laws, from congress.gov; White House presidential actions; and federal court dockets (CourtListener), including the bulk snapshot of 1.2 million dockets. The Remain in Mexico bills — the REMAIN in Mexico Act of 2025 (H.R. 273) and the Make the Migrant Protection Protocols Mandatory Act of 2025 (H.R. 551, S. 112) — were referred to committee and went no further.
- Action
- other
- Object
- Migrant Protection Protocols (Remain in Mexico) statute
- ID
- 357