The White House on Tuesday announced a long-awaited executive order that would block illegal immigrants from applying for asylum if crossings at the southern border reach certain levels, a move that comes just months before the November election and could soon face legal challenges from activists.
President Biden will issue a presidential proclamation to temporarily suspend the entry of foreign nationals across the southern border if the number of border encounters exceeds a seven-day average of 2,500 daily encounters, officials said. This would be in effect for 14 days after the seven-day average of border encounters falls below 1,500. Officials said this will make it easier for immigration officials to quickly remove individuals who do not have a legal basis to be in the United States.
There were 5,200 encounters at the border in the past 24 hours, a daily average of more than 5,000 over the past week, sources told Fox. There were 179,725 encounters at the southern border in April, compared to 211,992 in April 2023 and 189,357 in March 2024. These numbers are lower than the highs for 2022 and 2023, but still higher than pre-2021 numbers.
Biden is expected to announce the border measures amid rising political tensions ahead of the November election.
President Biden is calling for further action from Congress regarding illegal immigration and the border crisis. (Biden photo by Drew Ungerer/Getty Images; migrant caravan photo by Jose Torres/Anadolu via Getty Images)
In doing so, Biden is invoking the powers of sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which allow the president to suspend the entry of certain categories of foreign nationals. The Trump administration has used section 212(f) on multiple occasions, including to ban travel from certain countries, but its application to the southern border was blocked by legal challenges.
Biden’s order includes several exceptions for people coming across the border. It does not apply to visa holders, unaccompanied children, victims of severe forms of human trafficking, or those facing an acute medical emergency or an imminent threat to their life or safety. It also does not apply to people seeking entry into the U.S. at ports of entry using the CBP One app, which allows about 1,500 migrants to enter the country each day.
The measure would take effect immediately and be accompanied by joint rules issued by the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security that would limit asylum eligibility in high-traffic border encounters.
The move marks a major move to the right for the Biden administration. In 2021, the administration rolled back a series of Trump-era border enforcement measures that critics say contributed to the historic rise in migration that followed. More than 7 million migrants have crossed the border during Biden’s tenure.
The administration says it is addressing challenges across the hemisphere and that it needs congressional action to provide funding and fix a “broken immigration system.” The White House said the move comes after Republicans rejected attempts by Congress to act, including a bipartisan Senate bill that would put in place a similar restrictive mechanism and provide additional funding.
“The presidential proclamation, along with the interim final rule, are an important step in an effort that has been ongoing for more than three years to strengthen our ability to impose penalties on those crossing our southern border,” a senior administration official told reporters on Tuesday ahead of the announcement.
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“But we are clear that today’s executive order is no substitute for Congress taking up and passing the tough but fair bipartisan Senate bill, which would have significantly strengthened measures at the border and, just as important, provided billions of dollars to support the men and women working on the front lines to secure our border.“ They said.
Republicans have previously called on the administration to use Section 212(f) to stop illegal border crossings, but ahead of the announcement, lawmakers were unimpressed, criticizing the measure as too little, too late.
“By my count, President Trump has issued 94 executive orders since taking office, but he has waited until today to actually take what he calls effective action on the border,” Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said at a news conference. “My question for President Trump is, if he was serious about this, why did he wait until now? The answer is simple: President Trump is not serious about securing the border.”“
Other lawmakers argued it was a cynical move coming just months before the election, when Biden is struggling to address border security. Fox News Poll The poll found that seven in 10 voters go so far as to say the White House has “largely failed” to improve border security.
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December 18, 2023: Migrants flood into Eagle Pass, Texas, to wait to be processed. (Fox News)
“It’s a little late. You can’t let this cat walk backwards,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, who described Biden’s approval rating as “about the same as a fungal infection.”
The move comes as Biden faces intense political pressure from both the left and right over the crisis.
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Mayors of New York City, Denver, Chicago and other cities have called for more funding from the federal government and additional measures, including speeding up work permits, and 15 House Democrats recently sent a letter to President Biden urging him to take additional steps at the southern border.
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“It is clear that the status quo remains unsustainable, but with Republicans playing politics on border security, now is the time for the Administration to act. We urge you to take all possible measures, including executive orders, to strengthen security on the southern border, intercept illegal fentanyl, and enable orderly legal immigration,” the letter said.
