The White House has invited mayors of border cities and Democratic lawmakers to accompany the president Joe Biden on Tuesday when he announces an executive action to limit asylum — and seeks to change the political narrative around immigration.
The invitations are the administration’s latest attempt to project political strength — and administrative consensus — on an issue that polls show has created a liability for Biden.
Biden plans to sign an order that will limit migrants’ ability to seek asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border when the number of people attempting to cross reaches a certain threshold — a level that has been repeatedly hit since he took office reaches.
Under the order, the U.S. would halt new asylum applications if the number of people trying to enter the country between ports of entry reaches a daily average of 2,500 in a week, according to three people familiar with the administration’s plans who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details ahead of the announcement. The details of the order are not yet known, but it is expected to take effect on Wednesday. It would include a provision to resume asylum applications when crossings fall to a daily average of 1,500, the people said.
Asylum claims will continue to be processed at ports of entry under the order, and there will be exceptions. The Biden administration is currently processing about 1,500 migrants a day, mostly those who have appointments through a phone app set up by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The new decision does not apply to unaccompanied minors.
The executive action is similar to a provision in the bipartisan border bill that failed in Congress at the urging of Donald Trump, who did not want Biden to achieve a political victory — potentially blunting Republican criticism that the president has failed to pass the to secure the border amid a surge in asylum seekers.
The announcement of the new policy, which could help vulnerable candidates as well as Biden, comes just weeks before the president and Trump are set to hold their first debate.
“I’m excited to see what the President’s executive order entails. This is a very important issue that people are concerned about and Congress’s inability to act has forced the president to take executive action,” Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) said in an interview. “The most effective elected official or politician is the one who says what the people already think. And people are worried about the border. It’s not a Republican issue. It’s an American issue.”
Ramiro Garza, Jr. mayor of Edinburg, Texas and chairman of the South Texas Alliance of Cities, will also be in attendance Tuesday — one of a number of local officials who have been working with the administration to develop a response to the increase in migrants.
“I’m sure there will be different opinions on this. But from my standpoint, bringing this back into the conversation – so that we can really look at this and do something about it – I see it as a positive effort, because otherwise, at this point, because of an election year, I just wouldn’t I don’t see any action from Congress,” he said.
In recent months, the president and his senior aides have become increasingly concerned about the high number of border crossings, concerns that have been heightened by the political pressure of an election year. After the failed border bill, the aides landed on policies that will drastically shape the asylum system, as well as the Democratic party’s ideology on an issue that has challenged the last few administrations.
The decision to do so seemed like a reversal by the president. After entering the White House promising to fix America’s broken immigration system after four years of Trump, he has taken an approach likely to draw criticism from progressives and immigration advocates.
“This absolutely should not be the new Democratic position when it comes to borders and immigration. From what we’ve heard, it not only parallels some elements of the bill, but it also parallels some elements of what the Trump administration tried to do unsuccessfully,” said Senator Alex Padilla (D-California).
But White House officials believe voters will reward the president for his crackdown on the border. They view Suozzi’s special election in February, which focused on strengthening border security, as further evidence that the president’s policies and rhetorical shift will yield electoral benefits. At least a dozen lawmakers will be at the White House on Tuesday, including Suozzi, who along with other Democrats has called on the president to use this authority to tackle the border.
“This step by the Biden administration will help us get the situation at the border under control, but Congress must take action for a more permanent solution,” said Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), who sent a letter last month led. while other lawmakers asked for an executive order. “In the meantime, I welcome any additional action from the President in this area.”
Even the metric the administration focused on did not obscure Biden officials’ efforts to address the Republican Party’s criticism. Administration officials settled on a figure that was stricter than the average of 4,000 daily crossings in the bipartisan border deal, trying to avoid Republicans who accused Biden of encouraging thousands of migrants to approach the border before it closed.
While a handful of Democrats, many of whom sit in politically vulnerable seats, have asked the administration to take action, progressives and immigration advocates have criticized any restrictions on asylum, a protection for vulnerable people guaranteed under U.S. law.
“The Biden administration is trying to thread the needle by meeting the political moment of what Americans say they want – more order at the border – while maintaining due process at the border. And they won’t be able to do that perfectly right now. It is likely that this new process will turn away asylum seekers and deny them a fair opportunity to seek asylum,” said Greg Chen, senior director of government relations for the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Immigration policy experts warn the policy change will do little to solve the crisis at the border. Even with government efforts to curtail asylum seekers during peak border crossings, smugglers and traffickers will continue to target nationalities — such as Cubans, Venezuelans and Colombians — that cannot be easily transferred to countries that do not consistently receive deportation flights from the U.S. have accepted. or Mexico. They also warn that border closures linked to a specific number of illegal border crossings will lead to more erratic border crossings in remote areas, disrupting the security posture of Border Patrol.
Questions also remain about the fate of the policy. Many immigration policy experts expect the move will be blocked by legal challenges and possibly make its way to the Supreme Court. At that point, the administration could show that Biden has exhausted his options while once again pointing the finger at Congress.
“Assuming the court will uphold this, they’ll just go back to Congress and say, ‘Look, we tried to do this administratively, and it didn’t work,’” said a person familiar with the administration’s planning.
Daniella Diaz and Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.
