President Biden signed an executive order on Tuesday that will allow U.S. immigration officials to temporarily close the U.S. border with Mexico to asylum seekers if the number of migrants attempting to cross in one day reaches a certain threshold.
Surrounded by mayors of US border cities at the White House, Biden announced the move, which he hopes will curb record levels of illegal border crossings as criticism of his handling of the US border runs rampant during his re-election campaign.
“Migrants will not be able to obtain asylum at our southern border unless they apply for it after going through an established lawful process,” Biden explained during the signing.
“This will actually help us gain control of our border and restore order in the process,” he continued.
This is what the executive order means for potential asylum seekers.
🇺🇸What happened?
On Tuesday, Biden used Sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to close the border when illegal border crossings between ports of entry increased to a certain number for a continuous period of days. Although the White House did not provide specific figures in its fact sheet announcing the order, the Associated Press, citing sources familiar with the plan, reported that the threshold for closing the border would be 2,500 migrants per day over the course of of seven days.
While the border is closed, asylum seekers apprehended after crossing the US will be immediately deported Mexico or their country by origin. US immigration officials will not process their asylum claims.
A fact sheet released by the White House emphasized that the actions are not permanent. Once the number of migrants attempting to cross the border drops to a number “low enough for the U.S. system to safely and effectively manage border operations,” the border will reopen. According to the Associated Press, the threshold for reopening the border will be lower than 1,500 migrants per day for seven consecutive days.
🚨Why is this happening now?
Since Biden took office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has encountered more than six million migrants at the southern border. The Biden administration recorded more than 2 million crossings, a record high, at the southwest border in the last fiscal year that ended in September.
The new border restrictions represent an attempt by the Democratic president to manage the border crisis after the failure of a bipartisan bill in Congress that would have included a threshold for border crossings, similar to the executive order, as well as improvements to the asylum screening process, among other changes to the system for migrants seeking refuge at the border.
Biden used Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to approve Tuesday’s executive order, the same presidential authority the Trump administration invoked in 2018 to enforce immigration rules. The article allows border authorities to “suspend the entry of migrants” if immigration officials determine that their “arrival” is “detrimental to the interests of the United States.”
Biden’s executive order will likely be challenged in court.
👥 How does the order affect migrants?
The new rule will take effect later on Tuesday, with Politico and ABC News reporting that parts of the southern border – between ports of entry – will be closed to asylum seekers starting at midnight.
Migrants who already have an appointment at an official CBP port of entry are still being processed. But those apprehended during a period of closure between inland ports will be quickly deported and face a five-year ban from re-entering the country, as well as possible criminal charges.
There are some exceptions to the rule, including unaccompanied children and victims of human trafficking.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has expressed concern that the executive order will lead to a wave of asylum seekers who will be forced to wait in “unsafe conditions” in Mexico while the border is closed, leaving them a potential become targets for regional migrants. cartels.
In a policy brief released ahead of the executive order, AILA warned that “people waiting in unsafe conditions will be a boon to cartel expansion, worsen crime and fuel more drug trafficking on both sides of the border.”
🗣️ Backlash from both sides of the aisle
The executive order faced swift backlash from both Biden’s critics and political allies. While progressives and immigration advocates expressed concern that ending asylum seekers’ ability to have their claims processed violates U.S. refugee law, some Republicans have dismissed it as political theater.
“Our country has an established process for reviewing and vetting asylum claims,” Marisa Limón Garza, executive director of the El Paso, Texas-based Las Americas Immigrant Rights Center, told USA Today.
“Refusing to use this process makes women, children and families fleeing violence more vulnerable to those who would prey on them,” she said.
Immigration policy experts also warned that there could be a sharp increase in the number of migrants trying to cross other parts of the border, according to Politico.
The measure has also come under varying degrees of scrutiny from some Democratic lawmakers.
“By reviving Trump’s asylum ban, President Biden has undermined American values and abdicated our nation’s obligations to offer people fleeing persecution, violence and authoritarianism the opportunity to seek refuge in the U.S.,” he said. California Senator Alex Padilla, a Democrat. to the New York Times.
On Tuesday, Mississippi Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, condemned Republicans for blocking the bipartisan legislation but also said he was “concerned about the impact of the Executive Order on vulnerable people who come to the United States. for safety and protection.”
“To address the long-term situation at the border, we must fix our broken immigration system and properly fund border management needs,” Thompson said in a news release. “I urge my Republican colleagues to join Democrats in passing real, lasting solutions to strengthen border security, reform our immigration system, and protect vulnerable asylum seekers.”
The move appears to have done little to appease Republican lawmakers, who have been among Biden’s loudest critics when it comes to the border.
“Why did you wait until now if you were serious about it [the border]?” asked Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas, according to Politico. “The simple answer is: he is not serious about securing the border.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise also took aim at the executive order at a Republican conference on Tuesday, accusing Biden of trying to “throw out yet another fig leaf to distract people from the failures of his own policy.”
