The president is taking executive action to turn away asylum requests once the average daily border crossings exceed 2,500.
President Joe Biden announced on June 4 an executive order that would shut down asylum requests at the southern border once the average number of daily encounters exceeds 2,500.
The border will remain shut until that daily average stays below 1,500 for at least a week.
Senior administration officials said the order was the Democrat president’s most aggressive unilateral move of his administration.
It takes effect immediately as the daily encounter numbers already exceed the order’s allowable limit, and marks the latest of several recent moves by the administration to curb an immigration crisis that’s seen as a key issue by many voters heading into November.
President Biden signed the executive order next to several lawmakers from communities along the Mexico–U.S. border.
“I’m moving past Republican obstruction and using the executive authorities available to me as president to do what I can on my own to address the border,” he said.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland also will jointly issue an interim final rule that will “generally restrict asylum eligibility during periods of elevated border encounters for those who cross the southern border unlawfully or without authorization.”
The action comes down as a proclamation under Immigration and Nationality Act sections 212(f) and 215(a) and prohibits migrants who cross the southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum when, as one senior administration official said, “high levels of encounters at the southern border exceed our ability to deliver timely consequences.”
This is the same statute former President Donald Trump cited during his term.
Senior administration officials separated themselves from the previous administration’s approach, saying that their actions, among other things, were only temporary, only applied to those entering unlawfully, were not based on religion, and were, overall, far more humane.
President Biden emphasized the difference, saying, “I will never demonize immigrants. I’ll never separate children from their families at the border. I will not ban people from this country because of their religious beliefs.”
The new measures go into effect when the average daily encounters of migrants between ports of entry along the southern border exceeds 2,500 for seven consecutive days, and they will remain in effect until 14 calendar days after the average number of daily encounters drops below 1,500 for seven consecutive days.
However, significant exceptions to the restrictions remain.
Those include illegal immigrants who “manifest or express a fear of return to their country” or a fear of prosecution or torture being referred to a “credible fear screening with an asylum officer” and unaccompanied minors.
This new rule also doesn’t apply to those who use one of the “lawful pathways” to come into the United States, such as the CHNV asylum program, which officials confirmed brings in 30,000 people a month, and the CBP One app, which accounts for 1,400 people per day.
The official also noted that “The United States will continue to adhere to its international obligations and commitments by screening individuals who are found to be ineligible for asylum for withholding of removal and Convention Against Torture protection at a reasonable probability of persecution or torture standard.”
These new measures will also apply to illegal immigrants from China and other nations beyond the Western Hemisphere; officials expressed confidence in their ability to “impose an immediate and fast consequence to migrants no matter what country they’re coming from.”
President Biden also touted his administration’s collaboration with Mexico and other Latin American countries to work as partners in curbing the flow of immigration, and he promised to work with President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum as closely as he did with the current President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The executive order also comes after legislation failed to pass the House and the Senate that would have also ordered the suspension of asylum requests and the automatic denial of entrance to migrants once the daily crossings exceeded a certain number.
That legislation, crafted by Senate Republicans and Democrats, included a plan to shut the border for seven consecutive days if there is an average of 5,000 illegal immigrants encountered per day or if more than 8,500 illegal aliens are encountered in a single day.
It also included the addition of 1,500 Customs and Border Protection agents and 1,200 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Senior administration officials blasted congressional Republicans for failing to act.
“At that point in time, people understood that immigration shouldn’t become a political football that we should put country over party,” one senior administration official said.
“The reason we don’t have the bipartisan bill today is very simple. Because the other administration, the prior administration’s person, said, ‘Don’t do it. Don’t give Joe Biden a victory.’
“That’s not how we should run a country. And so that is unfortunate. An election year should not prohibit us from getting the people’s work done.”
However, those against the legislation shared their opposition. Rep. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) stated in a post on X that he was voting against the measure because, among other things, it “grants citizenship to illegal immigrants” and codifies both the “catch-and-release” program and “illegal entry via phone app.”
Mr. Schmitt also said that the bill “eviscerates [the] power of future presidents to secure [the] border by establishing a new MINIMUM number of illegal immigrants who must be admitted each day,” and it would make “invasion-level migration permanent.”
President Biden ended several of former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies on day one of his presidency, including the “Remain in Mexico” policy.
Most migrants, including families, are then released into the United States while awaiting their asylum claim to be processed, which can take years.
There are more than 2 million pending immigration court cases.
President Biden, in his speech, said that he has been working since day one of his presidency to fix the country’s “broken” immigration system, and continued to call for new laws and more funding for more asylum officers, 1,500 more Border Patrol agents, and 100 more judges.
He continues to fight for a “comprehensive immigration reform plan” that secures the border and provides “a pathway to citizenship for dreamers.”
Meanwhile, President Trump released a statement against President Biden’s immigration record.
“Crooked Joe Biden has totally surrendered our Southern Border,” President Trump said on his Truth Social social media platform. “His weakness and extremism have resulted in a Border Invasion like we have never seen before. Other countries have emptied out their prisons, insane asylums, and mental institutions, and sent us drug dealers, human traffickers, and terrorists.
“Millions of people have poured into our Country—and now, after nearly four years of his failed, weak leadership, Crooked Joe Biden is pretending to finally do something about the border—but in fact, it’s all for show because he knows we have a debate coming up in 3 weeks.”
Former President Trump and President Biden are set to participate in their first presidential debate on June 27.
Savannah Hulsey Pointer and the Associated Press contributed to this report.