Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/21-954_7l48.pdf
Page Number: 8

Cite as:  597 U. S. ____ (2022) 

3 

Opinion of the Court 

agency  had  “primarily  used  [§1225(b)(2)(C)]  on  an  ad-hoc 
basis  to  return  certain  Mexican  and  Canadian  nationals” 
arriving at ports of entry.  App. to Pet. for Cert. 273a, n. 12. 
A separate provision of the same section of the INA states
that if “an alien seeking admission is not clearly and beyond 
a doubt entitled to be admitted, the alien shall be detained 
for  a  proceeding  under  section  1229a  of  this  title.”
§1225(b)(2)(A).  Due  to  consistent  and  significant  funding
shortfalls, however, DHS has never had “sufficient deten-
tion capacity to maintain in custody every single person de-
scribed in section 1225.”  Id., at 323a.  In light of that fact,
the Trump administration chose to implement MPP in part 
so that “[c]ertain aliens attempting to enter the U. S. ille-
gally or without documentation, including those who claim 
asylum, will no longer be released into the country, where
they  often  fail  to  file  an  asylum  application  and/or  disap-
pear before an immigration judge can determine the merits
of any claim.”  554 F. Supp. 3d, at 832.

In  January  2019,  DHS  began  implementing  MPP,  ini-
tially in San Diego, California, then in El Paso, Texas, and
Calexico,  California,  and  then  nationwide.    By  December 
31, 2020, DHS had enrolled 68,039 aliens in the program.

Following  the  change  in  Presidential  administrations, 
however, the Biden administration sought to terminate the 
program.  On  January  20,  2021,  the  Acting  Secretary  of 
Homeland  Security  wrote  that  “[e]ffective  January  21,
2021,  the  Department  will  suspend  new  enrollments  in 
[MPP] pending further review of the program.  Aliens who 
are not already enrolled in MPP should be processed under
other  existing  legal  authorities.”    Id.,  at  836.    President 
Biden  also  issued  Executive  Order  No.  14010,  which  di-
rected the new Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro
N. Mayorkas, to “promptly review and determine whether 

—————— 
Department of Homeland Security v. Thuraissigiam, 591 U. S. ___, ___, 
n. 3 (2020) (slip op., at 4, n. 3).