In this election year, President Joe Biden is politically exposed due to his expansive executive order that aims to reduce the record migrant arrivals at the US-Mexico border. When a certain number of illegal immigrants reach the United States each day, officials are authorized to swiftly deport them without reviewing their asylum applications if the border is “overwhelmed.”
Biden has not gone far enough, according to Republicans who are worried about the president’s Democratic friends and the UN. Those fleeing persecution should be able to reach secure areas, according to a UN refugee agency spokesman.
During Joe Biden’s presidency, almost 6.4 million migrants were prevented from illegally entering the US. There has been a steep decline in arrivals this year, but analysts predict that this pattern will soon reverse. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador attempted to minimize the matter by stating that a border closure was “impossible” because of economic and cultural interchange, but Mexican media has portrayed the measure as one of Biden’s harshest policies.
Outside of the United States Capitol on Tuesday, a group of around twelve activists and Democratic legislators held their own press conference to denounce Biden’s policies. Congressional Progressive Caucus head Pramila Jayapal said she was “profoundly disappointed” and deemed the executive move as a step in the wrong direction.
A number of Biden’s party colleagues held different opinions; one of them was Arizona congressman Ruben Gallego, who argued that “more work to do” was necessary.
If the new regulations are challenged in court by activists or states headed by Republicans, the Biden administration intends to defend them. The daily crossing limit will be enforced after the average for seven days reaches 2,500. After seven days, when the average remains at 1,500, the border will reopen to migrants; after two weeks, it will reopen to asylum applicants. The rapid removal of those determined to have no legal basis to be in the US and the speedy resolution of immigration issues in court are two further objectives.
Republicans have demanded more robust measures and portrayed Biden’s border idea as an election-year stunt. They claim the Democratic president isn’t doing enough to enforce the rules that are in place to stop illegal immigration from the United States.
Considering that immigration is a significant issue for many voters in the upcoming November presidential election, the drop in migrant crossings at the US border comes at a politically charged moment for President Biden.
