Rand Paul Says He’ll Bring Back Major Trump-Era Border Program As Senate Chair

Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul said Thursday he will work to reinstate the Remain in Mexico program as the upcoming leader of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Following major GOP gains in the November elections, Republican lawmakers in both the House and Senate are now positioned to better support President-elect Donald Trump’s second-term agenda. Paul, who has served as a ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee, announced that he will not only serve as chair next year, but also use his promotion to help bring back a major Trump-era border security program that was discontinued under the Biden administration.

“I chose to chair this Committee over another because I believe that, for the health of our republic, Congress must stand up once again for its constitutional role,” Paul said in a prepared statement. “This Committee’s mission of oversight and investigations is critical to Congress reasserting itself.”

“Our first hearing will examine reinstating the successful Remain in Mexico policy from the first Trump Administration,” the senator said.

Remain in Mexico — officially known as Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) — was an initiative first unveiled by the Trump administration in December 2018 that mandated asylum seekers at the U.S. southern border wait in Mexico while their claims were processed through the immigration court system. The program, aimed at preventing asylum fraud, helped drive down illegal border crossings during Trump’s first term in office.

However, upon entering office, President Joe Biden worked to dismantle Remain in Mexico. Despite court battles during his administration that sought to keep the program in place, MPP was ultimately scrapped. The Biden administration then oversaw record levels of illegal immigration into the country, with fiscal years 2023 and 2024 the