President Biden is set to announce an executive order on Tuesday that would allow him to close the U.S.-Mexico border if a certain number of migrant crossings occur per day, but critics argued Monday that it’s too little, too late.
The order would bar illegal border crossers from applying for asylum if migrant contacts between ports of entry reach an average of 2,500 people per day over a one-week period. Associated Press.
The border will be reopened once the number of such encounters drops to 1,500 per day.
Biden, 81, has reportedly been considering executive action on the border since February, though he has denied assertions by Republicans that he always had the authority to do so.
The president is expected to sign the order in a White House ceremony on Tuesday, attended by mayors of border cities.
Rolando Salinas, the mayor of Eagle Pass, Texas, a city hit by the migrant crisis, told The Washington Post that he was not invited to the White House event despite strongly supporting “any measures to prevent and limit the number of illegal immigrants.”
“I wish this executive order had been in place back in December when we had 2,000 to 3,000 people a day flocking to our city,” he said of the executive order. “I’ll never forget those days.”
Law enforcement officials encountered more than 370,000 people attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border in December 2023, the highest monthly total on record, but the figure does not include so-called “fugitives” who evaded detection or arrest.
A Border Patrol source told The Post on Monday that they had not been informed of Biden’s planned order and had not yet been briefed on the details.
The White House did not immediately respond to The Washington Post’s request for comment.
Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., argued that Biden’s orders aren’t enough to stop the influx.
“Don’t be fooled by Biden’s latest move on the border. It’s nothing more than a political ploy,” Banks wrote on X.
“He’s trying to take a tough stance on immigration because his approval rating is dropping in the polls.” The Republican added:“Remember, he has already allowed over 10 million illegal immigrants into the country, and his new executive order could result in at least 1.5 million more illegal border crossings next year.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) also accused Trump of trying to deceive voters ahead of a potential showdown with former President Donald Trump in November.
“President Biden is trying to convince the American people that he wants to keep our southern border wide open and deal with the chaos he has created,” the House speaker wrote to X.
“The American people know very well: the president intentionally created this crisis. No executive order can change that.” Johnson added..
The new restrictions mean the border could be closed with immediate effect, as daily migrant contacts now exceed 2,500.
In April, the most recent month for which official figures are available, U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered about 6,000 migrants per day.
More than 7 million migrants have been apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents along the southern border since Biden took office in 2021, including more than 1.9 million in the current fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, according to CBP data.
