The White House is considering executive action to restrict the ability of undocumented migrants to request asylum at the United States-Mexico border, according to recent media reports. The project would close the border to new entries in cases where more than 5,000 migrants attempt to cross in a week, or more than 8,500 do so in the course of the same day.
The action by the Biden administration appears to be an extension of some of the tougher measures in the border compromise legislation, which was rejected by Republicans. This move is seen as another sign of the White House’s efforts to show aggressiveness on border security prior to Election Day.
The proposal would involve using an authority known as 212f between ports of entry to restrict illegal border crossings. Section 212f is an obscure and dormant part of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) that can be used to change rules and radically modify the interpretation of regulations drafted by Congress for a different purpose.
Former President Donald Trump implemented a ‘zero tolerance’ immigration policy, which was revoked by Biden on his first day in office. However, the government, stymied by Republican lawmakers who rejected a bipartisan border bill, may be exploring these options because of the pressure the president faces this election year in immigration and border matters.
The White House is also aware of the political dangers that a high number of immigrants could pose to the president and is working to figure out how Biden could alleviate the problem on his own. White House spokesman Angelo Fernández Hernández stressed that “no executive action, no matter how aggressive, can provide the significant political reforms and additional resources that Congress can provide.”
The president has come to take ownership of efforts to reach a bipartisan border security deal after years of stalemate over immigration reform. Biden has raised the tone of his speech on the immigration crisis, going so far as to affirm that he is willing to close the border between the US and Mexico if the measures being discussed by senators from both parties are approved.
However, these negotiations did not prosper, leaving Joe Biden’s government with a narrow margin of maneuver to respond to the crisis on the border with Mexico, where millions of immigrants have arrived in search of asylum in the last three years.