After more than three years in the White House office, President Joe Biden finally decided to take steps towards somewhat solving the illegal immigration that heavily impacted several border states, most significantly California and Texas. On Tuesday, President Biden announced the decision to sign an executive order in an effort to curb illegal immigration, which has emerged as a huge problem for him and the Democrats. Biden’s executive order sparks a lot of controversy, as many now question why it took more than three years for President Biden to take the first step against illegal immigration.
About the order
According to a senior White House administration official, the executive order will temporarily shut down asylum requests once the average number of daily encounters tops 2,500 between official ports of entry. The shutdown would go into effect immediately since that threshold has already been met. The border would reopen only once that number falls to 1,500. The president’s order would come under the Immigration and Nationality Act sections 212(f) and 215(a) suspending entry of noncitizens who cross the southern border into the United States unlawfully.
Senior administration officials said Tuesday in a call with reporters that “individuals who cross the southern border unlawfully or without authorization will generally be ineligible for asylum, absent exceptionally compelling circumstances, unless they are accepted by the proclamation.”
The illegal immigration crisis
After reaching an all-time-high number of migrant encounters last December, the number of migrant encounters at the border has been constantly declining. This trend can be attributed to the state efforts made by Texas, which managed to secure the border after implementing a set of controversial measures under the Operation Lone Star program, which first launched more than three years ago. Texas receives help from several Republican-led states and has spent about $10 billion in state money on monitoring the border, building a border wall, installing razor wire, and bussing migrants to sanctuary states and cities.
California is in crisis
Illegally crossing the border in Texas in recent months has become nearly impossible, so a growing number of people use California as an alternative entry point, causing pressure on the state’s southern areas. While migrant encounters are declining along the Texas border, California was predicted to see a record-high number of entries this fiscal year. Currently, it is uncertain whether these predictions will prove accurate due to Biden’s executive order issued just before the summer months, a period when crossings are expected to increase.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio rips Biden apart
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida is adding his voice to the group of Republicans criticizing President Biden’s executive order to restrict asylum at the southern border. Rubio calls the plan a “joke” and argues that it will not significantly reduce the number of border crossings, even if it is completely implemented.
“Biden new border ‘plan’ is a joke,” Rubio said in a Tuesday post on social media platform X. “Even if Biden actually enforced it fully (which he won’t) it would still allow close to a million people a year to cross illegally ON TOP OF the 10 million he has already allowed in over the last 3 years,” he said.
Rubio later shared a post by Bill Melugin, a California based national correspondent for Fox News, which explains why Biden’s executive order can’t be labeled as “shutting down” the border.
In no way can Biden’s executive order be described as “shutting down” the border.
It bans asylum to some illegal crossers, with some exceptions.
It does *not* stop or slow the up to 1,500 migrants per day released into the U.S. via CBP One app at ports of entry, and does not stop or slow the up to 30,000 migrants per month flying directly into the U.S. and being released into the country via Biden’s controversial mass parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.
In no way can Biden’s executive order be described as “shutting down” the border.
It bans asylum to some illegal crossers, with some exceptions.
It does *not* stop or slow the up to 1,500 migrants per day released into the U.S. via CBP One app at ports of entry, and does not…
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) June 4, 2024
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