The justices ruled in a 5-4 decision on Thursday that the Biden administration lawfully ended the Trump-era Migrant Protection Protocols, nicknamed the Remain in Mexico policy.

President Joe Biden ended the policy the first day he was in office in 2021. Under the protocols, migrants hoping to enter the United States had to stay in Mexico while they awaited their asylum proceedings.

How did the case get to the Supreme Court? After Biden removed the policy, Texas and Missouri sued saying that the law was necessary because of the strain that waiting migrants put on detention and public welfare systems. The states also said that removing the policy made it impossible to follow a federal law that says immigrants must be detained or sent back.

The Biden administration argued that releasing some migrants into the U.S. would free detention space for more dangerous people who needed to be held. The court ruled that the policy put an undue burden on the executive branch to provide housing for migrants. 

This story originally appeared in WORLD. © 2022, reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.