Amid growing concerns over illegal immigrants entering the United States, President Biden has issued an executive order (EO) aiming to secure the border.
According to the announcement Tuesday afternoon, Biden’s EO looks to “bar migrants who cross our Southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum.”
“These actions will be in effect when high levels of encounters at the Southern Border exceed our ability to deliver timely consequences, as is the case today,” Biden stated. “They will make it easier for immigration officers to remove those without a lawful basis to remain and reduce the burden on our Border Patrol agents.”
Accompanying the announcement is a further explanation about the Biden administration’s actions, which it explained are “not permanent.”
“They will be discontinued when the number of migrants who cross the border between ports of entry is low enough for America’s system to safely and effectively manage border operations.”
Department of Homeland Security sources told Ali Bradley of NewsNation that there were more than 170,000 encounters at the southern border last month.
America First Legal (AFL) called the EO a “disaster … it makes things worse and will eventually damage our ability to secure the borders.” AFL highlighted that the EO sets a threshold for illegal immigration, triggered when there are 2,500 or more daily encounters over a seven-day period. AFL equates this to “roughly 76,041 encounters each month,” or over 900,000 people per year.
Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and John Cornyn (R-TX) pushed back against Biden’s EO, questioning his motivation for the action.
“My question to [President Biden] is, why did you wait until now if you were serious about doing it? The simple answer is he’s not serious about securing the border,” stated Cornyn. “The simple fact of the matter is that the same laws that were in effect back when President Trump was in office are still in effect, but the difference is the unwillingness of this White House and this administration simply to enforce the law.”
“It is a shell game. They are not serious about it.”
A Cruz spokesperson also pushed back and positioned the incumbent senator against his 2024 challenger Congressman Colin Allred (R-TX-32).
“Joe Biden and Colin Allred can posture on the border all they want, but Texans know the truth,” the spokesperson said. “It is because of members like Colin Allred voting with Biden that our southern border has remained open, unchecked, and deadly. Texans will hold him accountable when they vote to re-elect Senator Ted Cruz in November.”
“Our border communities need more than talking points and photo ops, they need action,” said Allred concerning the EO.
“And while I have been critical of this Administration’s approach to the border, if it is implemented correctly this Executive Order could bring long overdue relief to our border communities. This action will not entirely solve this crisis but we are here because of Ted Cruz’s efforts to block any solution to our broken immigration system. There is no substitute for comprehensive Congressional action to secure our border and get Texas border communities the resources they need.”
“Ted Cruz will never be part of a solution, but in the Senate, I will.”
Former President Donald Trump also spoke out against Biden’s border EO, stating on Truth Social before the announcement that “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.”
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