President Biden and Mexico's president on Monday vowed to stop illegal immigration as Biden continues to face intense political pressure from all sides to address the fallout from a surge in border crossings ahead of this year's presidential election. We pledged to work together to achieve this goal.
In a joint statement, Biden and President Andres Manuel López Obrador directed the national security adviser to “work together to immediately implement concrete measures to significantly reduce illegal immigration while protecting human rights.” He said he did.
The statement, which followed a telephone conversation between the two leaders on Sunday, did not specify any measures being considered. The official did not elaborate on what the U.S. and Mexico might do “immediately,” saying only that the two countries would continue to dialogue on the issue.
The lack of clarity has left vague an issue that could be the determining factor in whether Biden remains in the Oval Office for another four years. Polls from both Republicans and Democrats in recent months have shown that the situation at the border is a serious concern. And even some of the president's most ardent supporters in liberal cities are calling on him to do something to stem the flow of immigrants.
The president's latest plan to make that happen involved a highly restrictive immigration bill that had some bipartisan support, but House Republicans blocked it and It collapsed. Biden had pushed for the bill to pass alongside financial aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, but the border bill was not included when Congress finally reached a deal on funding earlier this month. Ta.
That leaves Biden with few options to deal with either dramatically changed global immigration patterns or a U.S. immigration system that both parties acknowledge has been dysfunctional for decades. .
Some activists and administration officials believe Mr. Biden is close to a decision to issue an executive order that could impose dramatic new restrictions on asylum seekers, a move that could lead to a decision by Donald J. It would use the same legal powers that President Trump saw as the best way to keep immigrants out. country when he was in office.
Stephen Miller, the architect of Mr. Trump's immigration policy, has proposed a section of federal law known as 212(f) that would allow the president to prevent immigrants from even crossing the border into the United States. For many years, I have advocated for a broad interpretation of the section. state.
Officials are talking about a presidential proclamation that could cite that section of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, according to people familiar with ongoing discussions at the White House and the Department of Homeland Security. thing. The article gives the president the power to suspend entry of anyone who decides to enter the country. It could “harm the interests of the United States.”
Administration officials have declined to say when Biden might announce an order closing the border to refugees. The president said this in an interview aired on Univision on April 9th.
“There's no guarantee that I would have that authority on my own without a law,” Biden said. “And some say I should try. And if I get shut down by the courts, I get shut down by the courts.”
Border officials have struggled to cope with the surge of migrants at the southern border, particularly in December, when border agents rounded up about 250,000 people crossing the border illegally.
Since then, the Biden administration has worked closely with Mexico to ramp up enforcement. So far, these efforts appear to be working. In February, Border Patrol agents arrested more than 140,000 people, but in March that number dropped slightly to more than 137,000.
Executive actions like the one Biden is talking about are worrying immigration advocates. They argue that the use of blatant legal means is likely to deny immigrants a reasonable right to claim refuge in the United States when fleeing danger or torture in their home countries.
Robin Barnard, senior director of refugee advocacy at Human Rights First, said, “Policies aimed at deterring and punishing people who come to the U.S. seeking protection have not been implemented with the stated goal of preventing people from entering the country. “We have seen how this is not achieved,” he said. Immigrant advocacy group. “Weird and illegal policies like those attempted by former President Trump are neither sensible nor real solutions to the problems we face.”
Administration officials point to the fact that the president has implemented a series of proposals aimed at increasing legal immigration to the United States from countries hit hard by war, famine, climate change and political instability. .
But critics say these programs, while positive, could be overwhelmed by other measures that impose far-reaching new restrictions.
Andrea Flores, a former Biden administration official and current vice president of immigration policy at FWD.us, said, “Rather than a symbolic asylum ban, the president should consider measures that actually reduce illegal immigration, such as his own parole pathway.'' We have to look at the means,” he said. Support group.