President Joe Biden is set to announce an executive order temporarily shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers attempting to gain entry illegally.
According to the Associated Press, the order would close asylum requests at the US-Mexico border once the number of daily encounters between legal ports of entry reaches 2,500 and would reopen once the number of crossings eases to 1,500.
It would be effective immediately. The order will likely be struck down in court and face a slew of legal challenges. Still, it could be enough to convince moderates that Biden is taking the issue of illegal immigration seriously.
Department of Homeland Security officials report that daily encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border are averaging more than 4,000.
The move comes just weeks before the first presidential debate with former President Donald Trump, who has made immigration policy a cornerstone of his campaign. The former president has vowed to deport the country’s 11 million undocumented immigrants and is calling for deployment of the National Guard, local law enforcement and perhaps the military to carry out deportations, citing the mass deportations under President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950s.
Military-style “Operation Wetback” saw hundreds of thousands of Mexican migrants forced onto buses, planes and boats in the summer of 1954 and sent across the U.S. border into Mexico.
Republicans responded to Biden’s proposed action, saying it is too little too late.
“Joe Biden’s latest border scam isn’t fooling anyone – as migrant crossings hit record highs year after year on his watch, he refused to shut down the border,” said Philip Letsou, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “But now that he’s up for re-election and trailing badly, Biden’s changed his mind.”
