On Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced executive action to curb the flow of illegal immigration.
With less than four months until Election Day and Trump surging ahead in the polls Biden’s latest executive order is a thinly veiled attempt to sway voters as immigration continues to be a target issue.
The order will be in effect when the seven-day average of daily border crossings exceeds 2,500 between ports of entry, senior administration officials said, meaning it will go into effect immediately.
Biden issued a proclamation announcing the change under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
While announcing details surrounding the order administration officials said it is not comparable to the Trump administration’s system-wide crackdowns.
“There are several differences between the actions that we are taking today and Trump-era policies. The Trump administration attacked almost every facet of the immigration system and did so in a shameful and inhumane way,” a senior administration official told reporters on a call Monday.
The Hill reports that the order, an interim final rule released by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland, will kick in when the seven-day average of daily encounters at the southwest border and the southern coastal borders exceeds 2,500.
U.S. border officials will stop implementing credible fear interviews for asylum claims and work to quickly expel foreign nationals who’ve crossed the border between ports of entry.
Migrants who are expelled under the order will receive a minimum five-year bar on re-entry to the United States and potentially be criminally prosecuted.
According to administration officials, Mexico will receive nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, as well as its own nationals, in expedited deportations.
One official said the 2,500 number was determined based on similar numbers negotiated by Republicans and Democrats in the Senate as part of a failed border security deal.
“The goal here is to secure our border while preserving our values as a nation,” one official said.
While the measure would be lifted once the seven-day average of daily encounters drops below 1,500, that threshold could prove difficult to meet. The last time the average of daily encounters was below 1,500 was in July 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to The Associated Press.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
