WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden signed a sweeping new border measure on Tuesday that would allow authorities to quickly deport migrants caught crossing the southwest border or send them back to Mexico if the daily number of crossings exceeds exceeds 2,500.
Biden took office in 2021 promising to reverse some of Republican Donald Trump’s restrictive policies but has struggled with record numbers of migrants caught crossing illegally, which has become an issue in the tight rematch against November’s presidential election.
Some human rights activists and left-wing immigration experts were sharply critical of the measure, while Republicans said it did not go far enough or was too late.
AMY FISCHER, MIGRANT RIGHTS, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
“This executive action plays on false narratives of border invasions and promotes policies based on white supremacist ideas at the expense of people seeking safety in the US. the Refugee Convention.”
United Nations Spokesperson FLORENCIA SOTO NINO
“Access to asylum for people in need is of paramount importance and anyone who claims to have a well-founded fear of persecution in their country of origin must have access to safe territory and have their claim assessed before being subjected to deportation or removal.”
ARIZONA REP. RUBEN GALLEGO, DEMOCRAT
“Today’s announcement is a step in the right direction, but we still have more work to do. We also need to hire more Border Patrol agents, fix our broken asylum system, and keep our communities safe.”
US REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE DONALD TRUMP
“Biden is acting like he’s finally doing something about the border, but in fact it’s all for show because he knows there’s a debate coming up in three weeks.”
TEXAS SENATOR TED CRUZ, REPUBLICAN
“He could have stopped this every day of his presidency… What the White House is doing today is they’re just playing politics.”
SILKY SHAH, DETENTION WATCH NETWORK
“Biden is using the same legal authority to justify his order that Trump used for the ‘Muslim ban’ in 2017. We were outraged then and we are outraged now – especially because Biden has completely abandoned the values he once proclaimed, namely implementing a ‘fair and humane’ immigration system that helped him get elected.”
(Reporting by Heather Timmons; Editing by Alistair Bell)
