President Biden does take executive action On Tuesday, the White House authorized U.S. immigration officials to deport large numbers of migrants without processing their asylum claims, the White House said, announcing what may be the most restrictive border policy by a Democratic president in recent history.
Biden’s aggressive move will suspend the processing of asylum claims between official entry points along the southern border, allowing U.S. authorities to more quickly turn away and deport migrants who enter the country unlawfully, administration officials said in a call with reporters who got a preview of the order. The president will speak at the White House at 2:00 PM ET.
The partial ban on asylum applications will take effect almost immediately, officials said. Regular asylum processing will not be restored until 14 days after the Secretary of Homeland Security determines that the weekly average of daily illegal border crossings has fallen below 1,500. The proclamation could be reactivated if the weekly average of daily crossings between ports of entry exceeds 2,500.
To the dismay of migrant advocates, the seismic policy shift will attempt to upend U.S. asylum law, which allows migrants on U.S. soil to apply for humanitarian protection even if they cross the border illegally. But Biden administration officials have argued that the asylum system is buckling under the weight of more than 3 million pending claims, incentivizing migrants to come to the U.S. as their cases take years to be decided.
What Biden’s immigration order does
Mr. Biden signs a proclamation temporarily suspending entry of most migrants at the southern border, while the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security publish a regulation to implement his directive. The measures will come into effect at midnight on Tuesday.
Migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border between legal entry points when the order is in effect will be barred from asylum and “subject to immediate removal” to Mexico or their home countries, officials said. The government, an official added, plans to carry out these deportations “within days, if not hours.”
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Only migrants who affirmatively express fear of persecution or torture will be screened by U.S. asylum officials, the officials said. But they will only be screened for lesser forms of protection – not asylum – and will have to pass interviews with higher standards to avoid being quickly deported.
The crackdown on asylum seekers will not apply to unaccompanied children, to people with acute medical conditions or fleeing imminent danger, and to migrants using legal routes to enter the US, such as the system that will become possible created by the government’s smartphone app known as CBP One. The administration will continue to process approximately 1,500 migrants at ports of entry under the CBP One process.
To justify the policy change, the administration is citing a 1950s law known as 212(f), which gives the president the authority to suspend the entry of foreigners if the executive branch determines that their arrival would be “detrimental” to American interests. The same law became infamous under the Trump administration, which called for sharply restricting legal and illegal immigration, including travel from certain Muslim-majority countries.
Officials said the partial asylum ban will apply to so-called extra-continental migrants, such as those from China, who have traveled to the U.S. border in record numbers in recent years. But they did not say that Mexico had agreed to take them back, raising the specter that some migrants may still be released with court notices as some countries, including China, limit or reject U.S. deportations.
An important policy and political change
Mr. Biden’s policies are modeled after one of the pillars of a bipartisan border security agreement failed twice in Congress as a result of widespread Republican opposition, giving government officials the opportunity to argue that they are acting unilaterally based on one American’s core concerns in the absence of congressional action.
While sweeping in nature, the announcement will not completely “close” or “lock down” the southern border, as asylum processing and legal trade and travel will continue unhindered at official ports of entry.
In many ways, Biden’s dramatic border shift stems from the intense political pressure he has faced from Republicans and some Democrats on immigration, one of his worst issues in the polls.
But it is also a response to the reality on the ground along the U.S.-Mexico border, where U.S. officials have reported record levels of migrant apprehensions, including more than 2 million in each of the past two years. This year these are the arrests of migrants dropped by more than 50% from all-time highs late last year, partly due to a months-long campaign by Mexico to stop migrants from reaching the U.S. border.
A government official said Tuesday’s announcement would “strengthen the asylum system and prevent it from being overwhelmed and propped up by those who have no legitimate claims.”
Andrea Flores, a former Biden administration official, denounced the president’s move, saying it could set a dangerous precedent.
“If the president now claims he can close asylum whenever he feels like it — even after border numbers have dropped by more than 50% — this precedent gives future presidents the pretext to suspend any immigration route to the United States,” he said. Flores.
Sara Cook contributed reporting.
Camilo Montoya Galvez
