Biden signs executive order to restrict asylum claims

WASHINGTON (CN) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed an executive order effectively barring most people illegally crossing the southern U.S. border from receiving asylum.

It was Biden’s latest attempt to do something about a mounting campaign issue, as legislative attempts to reform immigration policy have been stymied by Republicans in Congress.

“We must face a simple truth — to protect America as a land that welcomes immigrants we must first secure the border and secure it now,” Biden said from the White House.

The executive action would bar noncitizens who cross the southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum in virtually all circumstances once the number of illegal crossings exceeds 2,500 people a day. The cap mirrors the number in proposed bipartisan legislation that has failed multiple times to pass Congress.

Officials said that number is already a reality, so the ban would be effective immediately. They noted that the restrictions are temporary and can be lifted once the number of migrants crossing reaches an average below 1,500 for seven consecutive days.

In response to criticism that the measure is too harsh, Biden said “doing nothing is not an option. We have to act.”

“We take these steps today not to walk away from who we are as Americans, but to make sure we preserve who we are for future generations to come,” he said.

Biden took only one question from the media following his prepared remarks, but it was related to Israel and not the executive order.

Biden administration officials have said frequently that the president had taken all the executive action at his disposal to address the flow of migrants without new legislation.

Democrats have been unable to get abipartisan negotiated bill to reform immigration procedures through Congress. The legislation would have hiked border security measures, increased law enforcement personnel and enacted stricter rules for migrants claiming asylum in the U.S. The legislation would also have given the Department of Homeland Security authority to shut down the border under certain circumstances.

“Because of President Biden’s leadership, law enforcement will gain new capabilities that congressional Republicans cannot block,” deputy press secretary Andrew Bates wrote in a memo released Tuesday. “Legislation is still the only way to permanently address border security and immigration reform.”

A big talking point for Biden and supporters of the order was that it wouldn’t have been necessary had former President Donald Trump not urged Republicans to torpedo the legislation.

In response, Trump said Biden was “pretending to finally do something about the border,” but really was just trying to score political points before their debate later this month.

“The truth is Joe Biden’s executive order won’t stop the invasion,” Trump said in a video posted online. “It’s weak and it’s pathetic.”

Kevin Munoz, a spokesperson for Biden’s campaign, said Trump and Republicans “want chaos and partisan politics as usual.”

“President Biden knows being president is not about theater — it’s about taking action on the issues our communities care most about,” he said in a statement. “Despite Trump and his loyalists’ inaction, President Biden is taking action today.”

The action uses the same executive authority that Trump used in restricting travel from several predominantly Muslim countries.

Biden’s measure received bipartisan condemnation as well: Republicans said it’s still not enough and some Democrats and immigrant advocate groups called it too harsh.

“The only real way to fix this problem is mass deportations,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said. “Any other ‘solution’ is a bandaid on a much larger wound.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Biden is using the executive order to seem like he’s addressing immigration when it won’t actually make a difference.

“President Biden has engineered a wide-open southern border and is now trying to convince Americans that he wants to address the chaos he created,” he said. “The American people know better. He intentionally created this crisis and an executive order won’t change that.”

California Senator Alex Padilla said the move abandons “our nation’s obligations to provide people fleeing persecution, violence and authoritarianism with an opportunity to seek refuge in the U.S.”

“This asylum ban will fail to address the challenges at our border, just as it did under the Trump administration,” Padilla said. “It will lead to people with legitimate asylum claims being prevented from seeking safety and returned to harm.”

But Democrats weren’t universal in their condemnation. New York Representative Tom Suozzi called the order a “critical step to fix the asylum system and speed up deportations.”

“President Biden has taken action — now the GOP needs to stop acting out,” he wrote online. “No more excuses.”

Yael Schacher, Refugees International’s director for the Americas and Europe, was “appalled” by the executive action, saying it violates U.S. and international refugee law. She said the 2,500 migrant limit was arbitrary because it “has no bearing on the claims of legitimate asylum seekers.”

“At a time of unprecedented displacement in the hemisphere and beyond, [the policies] also represent a shirking of responsibility by a country with capacity to receive many more people seeking safety and set a dangerous example to the world of scapegoating asylum seekers in hopes of political gain,” Schacher said in a statement.

“The challenges at the border are real and require solutions that balance an orderly border with fair and humane treatment of asylum seekers. This approach will achieve neither.”

Maribel Hernandez Rivera, director of policy and government affairs for border and immigration at the ACLU, recently said enforcement focused measures don’t solve the problem at the border. She said they must be combined with comprehensive immigration reform.

“We must not turn our backs on people seeking safety,” she said. “Americans across the aisle are hungry for proven solutions. They also understand that we do not need to sacrifice our nation’s values or moral commitments in order to address the challenges at the border.”

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