The Biden administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court for permission to end the Migrant Protection Protocols, known as MPP, the Trump-era policy that forces asylum seekers to await U.S. immigration hearings in Mexico. 

The administration suspended MPP upon taking office in January. But a federal court in Texas ordered it restored, arguing the Department of Homeland Security did not adequately explain the move to end it.

DHS released a more detailed explanation in a memo, but a federal appeals court upheld the Texas decision and this month, MPP was started again.

In its request to the Supreme Court late Wednesday, the Biden administration asked the justices to reconsider whether the 5th Circuit decision should stand, and urged them to hear oral arguments by April. 

More than 70,000 asylum seekers were subject to MPP under Trump. Some 200 have been returned under the revamped policy so far.