President Biden Issues Action to Limit Asylum at Southern Border
President Biden issued an executive action limiting asylum at the southern border, when the border is “overwhelmed.”
The action temporarily shuts down asylum requests once the average daily number of encounters tops 2,500 between official ports of entry. Since that number was crossed, the order went into effect immediately on its introduction on Tuesday, June 4, 2024.
The president’s action falls under the Immigration and Nationality Act sections 212(f) and 215(a) which allows the federal government to suspend entry of noncitizens who cross the southern border into the United States unlawfully. That was the same section of the law that was used by the Trump Administration to deny entry to certain immigrants.
The President said he issued the action to get around Republicans in Congress who were blocking an immigration deal.
“Frankly, I would have preferred to address this issue through bipartisan legislation, because that’s the only way to actually get the kind of system we have now — that’s broken — fixed, to hire more Border Patrol agents, more asylum officers, more judges. But Republicans have left me with no choice,” said President Biden.
Policy Details
The core of the policy is the ability to refuse entry to most foreign nationals who cross the border without prior authorization.
When the number of daily encounters exceeds 2,500, U.S. officials will stop implementing interviews for asylum claims and will work to quickly expel foreign nationals who crossed the border illegally.
Mexico agreed to receive its own nationals as well as nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, to expedite deportations.
Congressional Reaction
The order received tepid reception on Capitol Hill, even among Democrats.
“[It’s] a lot better than doing nothing, but not as preferable as passing legislation, as the president admits,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
Other Democrats said the order did not go far enough on restricting illegal immigration, while others said it went too far.
“I understand that the Biden administration feels like they need to do something. … It’s heart-wrenching to see that this is the something that they are choosing, knowing full well that this is not going to come close to solving the problem that we are experiencing,” said Representative Hillary Scholten (D-MI).
One of the leaders of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), called the order “"dangerous step in the wrong direction.”
Republicans called the order a “desperate political stunt.”
"This Executive action does nothing to end parole abuses or catch-and-release. It continues the administration’s abuse of the CBP One app. It does not reimplement President Trump’s successful Remain in Mexico policy. It provides no new resources for border patrol. It does nothing to deport the millions who have poured over our open border every year since Biden took office. And it will still allow scores of additional illegal immigrants to flood into our country before any so-called shutdown authority kicks in," said a statement from House Republican leaders including Speaker Mike Johnson.