CNN
The White House is considering executive action to restrict migrants’ ability to seek asylum at the US-Mexico border if they crossed illegally – a maneuver reminiscent of controversial action from the Donald Trump era and is sure to invite fierce backlash from immigration advocates and progressives.
The handling of the US-Mexico border has dogged President Joe Biden for years as migration across the Western hemisphere reached record levels and resulted in thousands of migrants arriving at the border.
The action being considered at the White House appears to be an extension of some of the toughest measures in the border compromise legislation tanked by Republicans—and another sign of the White House’s efforts to show they’re aggressive on border security ahead of Election Day.
No final decision has been made on the action under consideration, which involves using an authority known as 212f between ports of entry to try to clamp down on unlawful border crossings. An administration official noted that the administration often evaluates actions that could be taken, but they don’t always move forward.
It’s unclear how the proclamation under discussion would be executed and what, if anything, would be different from what was enacted during the Trump administration. Lawyers within the administration have been reviewing the action, one source said.
A White House spokesperson did not comment on the actions under consideration.
“The Administration spent months negotiating in good faith to deliver the toughest and fairest bipartisan border security bill in decades because we need Congress to make significant policy reforms and to provide additional funding to secure our border and fix our broken immigration system,” White House spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández said in a statement.
“No executive action, no matter how aggressive, can deliver the significant policy reforms and additional resources Congress can provide and that Republicans rejected. We continue to call on Speaker Johnson and House Republicans to pass the bipartisan deal to secure the border,” he added.
Biden suggested earlier this month he would shut down the US-Mexico border if the proposed border legislation had been signed into law – effectively embracing one of the toughest measures included in the package.
“If the bill were law today, it would qualify to be shut down right now while we repair it,” Biden said.
