President Joe Biden is implementing executive actions aimed at preventing migrants who enter the United States illegally from seeking asylum during times when border enforcement agencies are overwhelmed.
On Tuesday, the White House released a fact sheet stating that the president approved measures to bar migrants crossing the Southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum. The fact sheet explained that these actions will be activated during periods of high migrant encounters that exceed the government's capacity to manage the situation effectively. This will facilitate the removal of individuals without a lawful basis to stay and lessen the burden on Border Patrol agents.
The White House specified that Biden is suspending the entry of noncitizens who illegally cross the Southern border. These actions will be lifted once the number of border crossings drops to a level manageable by the U.S. immigration system. Humanitarian exceptions will be made, similar to those in a bipartisan border agreement proposed in the Senate, including protections for unaccompanied children and trafficking victims.
A similar proclamation by former President Donald Trump in 2018 was blocked by a federal judge appointed by President Obama, who ruled that the president lacks the authority to impose conditions that Congress has expressly forbidden.
Karoline Leavitt, the National Press Secretary for Trump’s campaign, criticized Biden's actions, arguing they will lead to "amnesty, not border security." She claimed that Biden could secure the border through executive action but is hindered by radical left-wing Democrats.
Global Refuge, formerly Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, expressed concerns about the legality and morality of the new rule. Global Refuge President Krish O’Mara Vignarajah warned that these restrictions could deny protection to deserving asylum seekers based on arbitrary factors rather than the merits of their claims. She urged for a comprehensive policy to manage the southern border, including legal pathways for migration and partnerships to combat trafficking.
Data from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol shows record numbers of migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border, with over 301,000 incidents reported in December alone. A Pew Research Center report from March found that 45% of respondents viewed the border situation as a "crisis," while 32% saw it as a "major problem.”
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan criticized the executive actions as ineffective, claiming they would allow up to 2,499 illegal aliens to cross the border daily, amounting to nearly 1 million annually. He argued that this figure does not account for those exempted from the rule and accused Biden of continuing policies that let millions of illegal aliens enter the country through ports of entry.
Jordan attributed Biden's actions to the administration's poor handling of the border crisis and low approval ratings. He noted that Biden is preparing to debate Trump, who he described as the strongest border security president, and suggested that the new measures are an attempt to improve public perception of Biden’s border policies.