White House Claim “From day one in office, President Biden has called on Congress to secure the border and fix our broken immigration system. For the past three years, while Congress has failed to act, the President has acted to secure the border.”
But that is not true: Biden created a border crisis by reversing the previous administration’s policies, knowing the implications but without establishing an effective alternative.
During the election campaign, he promised Biden has pledged to quickly roll back the previous administration’s border enforcement measures, but at a news conference shortly before his inauguration, he told reporters it would take “the next six months” to rebuild the system for processing migrants.
“It will be done quickly, but it won’t be done on day one,” he said. An immediate change in Trump administration policy could mean “2 million people showing up at the border.”
But in his first week in office, issued There are more than 30 executive orders and memoranda, nearly all of which reverse or suspend actions taken by the Trump administration.
Biden’s concerns were prescient. Encounters with illegal border crossers In 2021 Best The annual total was the highest on record. The following year, encounters rose to 2,214,652.
a declaration Biden’s just-announced policy does not intend to reinstate President Trump’s border security measures or establish effective alternatives.
Biden must have expected the ACLU and others to challenge it in court, and it makes me wonder if he’s really going to do anything about it. Is this just a political gesture to get over it? Widespread public opposition What do you think about the border security measures that could hurt him in the upcoming election?
declaration
The declaration is made when the average number of encounters with illegal border crossers exceeds 2,500 for seven consecutive days. Hanging Foreigners who cross the border illegally.
Interim rules were issued, making the following changes: Treatment of illegal border crossers when suspended:
- Most illegal border crossers are ineligible for asylum.
- Illegal border crossers Expedited removal procedures Only if they express a fear of persecution or torture will they be referred for reliable fear screening.
- The United States will continue to comply with its international obligations to screen individuals who demonstrate a fear of persecution or torture and determine whether to grant their application. Injunction against removal or Convention against Torture Protection measures require a higher burden of proof than an asylum application.
These measures will remain in effect until the average number of contacts between ports of entry over seven consecutive calendar days is less than 1,500.
The court would have no difficulty in justifying an order setting aside the declaration.
Biden has stated that he issued it. According to his authority section 212(f) The relevant portion of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides:
“The President may, whenever he is satisfied that the admission of any aliens, or of any class of aliens, into the United States is detrimental to the interests of the United States, suspend the admission of all aliens, or of any class of aliens, or impose any restrictions on the admission of aliens that he may deem proper.”
Presumably Biden has determined that illegal border crossings are harmful if they exceed a pre-established limit, but not harmful if the same numbers of aliens cross the border illegally before or after the suspension period, or if the limit is exceeded by six days instead of seven.
In other words, the proclamation is not based on whether a particular alien or the entry of certain aliens is harmful, but on whether the number of illegal immigrants has reached a level that makes illegal entry harmful, which may be outside the scope of Section 212(f).
Moreover, Section 212(f) applies to the admission of aliens, not to asylum requests, and Biden does not have the authority to deny asylum requests if they exceed arbitrary limits on illegal entry. Article 208(a)(1) The INA gives all aliens in the United States the right to apply for asylum, regardless of whether their entry was legal.
Insufficient declaration
Senate Border Act (Border LawBidensupport They have the same limitations as the Presidential Proclamations. Neither reinstates the previous Administration’s border policies or establishes effective alternatives to them, nor do they end the Biden Administration’s policies that encourage illegal immigration, such as the elimination of meaningful domestic law enforcement.
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said, Enforcement Guidelines “Accordingly, the fact that individuals are noncitizens subject to deportation should not be the basis for enforcement action against them.” Enforcement efforts are instead focused on immigrants who “pose a threat to national security, public safety, or border security, and therefore to the well-being of America.”
This means that illegal border crossers released into the country will not be subject to deportation proceedings unless they engage in actions that pose a threat to the welfare of the United States.2.3 million During his first three years in office, the number of immigrants entering the country without a visa increased.
Moreover, deportable immigrants who are subject to a deportation order generally are not deported.2023 ICE Annual Report It said there were 1,292,830 immigrants subject to final deportation orders in fiscal year 2023, and that ICE only deported 142,580 of them.
Furthermore, to implement the Declaration:Mexican Government Cooperationand helping the United States stop illegal border crossings would inflict economic harm on Mexico.
very There are few visas Mexicans who want to work in the US don’t have visas, so most new workers must enter illegally. And Mexico depends on money.money transfer) The total remittances these illegal Mexican workers send to their families is $55.9 billion 2022.
summary
If Biden truly wants to end the crisis, he could take a big step toward resolving it by reinstating the previous administration’s border measures and repealing his own measures that encourage illegal immigration.
Biden will not be forced to comply with border law or Presidential proclamation security measures. If re-elected, he may ignore these measures in his second term just as he ignored the INA’s enforcement provisions during his first term. America cannot afford to keep Joe Biden in power for another four years.
Nolan RapaportHe served on the House Judiciary Committee for three years as an Executive Branch immigration law expert, and then served for four years as immigration counsel to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims. Prior to his work on the Judiciary Committee, he wrote immigration review board decisions for 20 years..
