“Once screened and cleared, we will welcome these Afghans who helped us in the war effort over the last 20 years to their new home in the United States of America. Because that is who we are, that is what America is.”
These were the words of American President Joe Biden while talking about the US withdrawal from Afghanistan which marked the end of a protracted war between the Taliban and America.
In a statement issued on July 30, Biden said, I want to thank these brave Afghans for standing with the United States, and today, I am proud to say to them: welcome home.”
A strong statement from the Democratic President awakens the hopes for the reemergence of a great America in a true sense and spirit. This is because the true greatness of the US lies in its openness for all, a land of opportunities where everybody is welcomed with open arms without giving a second thought to their marginalized backgrounds.
These hopes were initially created by President Biden himself by taking remarkable immigration initiatives during his first 100 days in the office. He had rescinded Trump’s national emergency declaration; halted border wall construction; reversed travel ban on Muslim countries; protected the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program; created a task force for identifying and reuniting migrant families separated at the US-Mexico border; revoked Proclamation 10014 to end the limitation on immigration during the pandemic; and ended Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, formally known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program, which required asylum seekers to stay in Mexico awaiting the US hearings.
However, a recent development has shattered all such hopes as the US Supreme Court on August 24 denied Biden’s bid to rescind Trump’s “remain in Mexico policy” that forced thousands of asylum seekers to stay in Mexico until their immigration court dates in the US.
The court, with three liberal justices dissenting, rejected the Biden administration’s effort to block a Texas-based judge’s ruling requiring the government to revive Trump’s “remain in Mexico” policy. The Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority includes three justices appointed by Trump. The brief order by the justices means that the ruling of US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued on August 13 now goes into effect.
It may be remembered that Kacsmaryk was appointed by Trump, and he was working at a religious-right law firm. The judge has previously written that being transgender is a “mental disorder” and that gay people are “disordered.”
The apex court’s decision was not taken well by the democrats, and even the Department of Homeland Security, which said in a statement it regretted the Supreme Court’s decision and would continue to “vigorously challenge” the district court ruling.
Such judicial interventions are giving the US foreign policymakers a very tough time, as their intellect is rejected at once without considering the political consequences.
Historically, the Supreme Court has itself warned in many decisions issued earlier against “the danger of unwarranted judicial interference in the conduct of foreign policy.” Negotiations involving international affairs can be sensitive, and American diplomats need assurance that their country will honor its commitments. The US may see deterioration in its relationships with foreign governments and lose credibility abroad if a court can order major changes to its foreign policy, especially when the US government and the President are taking the matter very seriously.
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How Will Reviving Remain in Mexico Policy Affect US Diplomacy In The World
