Washington — President Biden is debating whether to invoke the broad executive powers that gained notoriety during the Trump administration to crack down on immigrants coming to Japan. southern american borderthree people familiar with the plan told CBS News.
Biden has cited a law dating back to 1952 that severely restricts access to the U.S. asylum system, which is crippled by stress. Number of migrants arriving along border reaches record levels The people requested anonymity to discuss internal government reviews of the talks with Mexico.
The law, known as 212(f), allows the president to “suspend the entry” of an alien if it is determined that the alien's arrival is not in the best interest of the country. The Trump administration has used this law several times, including banning entry and travel from certain Muslim-majority countries and banning asylum for immigrants who entered the country illegally. It was.
Lokman Vral Elibor/Anadolu (via Getty Images)
If approved, Biden's executive actions could be announced within the next two weeks, the sources said. Administration officials said no final decision has been made on whether the president will take executive action to address the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, where more migrants are flowing than at any time in U.S. history. .
Significantly restricting asylum would face difficult legal and operational hurdles. Still, the executive order aimed at curbing illegal border crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border could be seen as an important political message from Biden ahead of the 2024 election. Border policy has been one of Biden's weakest issues in polls, with multiple polls showing a majority of Americans disapprove of his handling of immigration.
The executive order would also solidify a dramatic immigration policy by Biden, who vowed to “revitalize” the U.S. asylum system shortly after taking office in 2021. The move comes as migrant insecurity along the southern border has reached record levels and continues to rise over the past three years. Biden's administration has placed some limits on asylum because of dissatisfaction with Democratic-led cities that are taking in migrants.
in fact, The White House brokered the agreement. Last month, he argued with a group of senators that would have given the president the power to suspend asylum laws and immediately expel immigrants during a surge in illegal immigration. Republican lawmakers rejected the deal, arguing it wasn't tough enough, though they advocated changes to asylum restrictions in exchange for additional border funding and aid to Ukraine.
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc (via Getty Images)
White House Press Secretary Angelo Fernandez Hernández said in a statement that Republican lawmakers “chose to put partisan politics ahead of national security.”
“No amount of aggressive executive action could provide the significant policy reforms or additional resources Congress could provide, and Republicans have rejected,” Fernández-Hernández added. “We continue to urge Speaker Johnson and House Republicans to pass a bipartisan agreement to secure our borders.”
If Biden decides to invoke this authority, his administration would face significant operational challenges in implementing it at scale.
Last year, the administration enacted regulations that deem immigrants who enter the country illegally without seeking protection in a third country as ineligible for asylum. However, there are insufficient numbers of asylum workers, detention beds, and other resources to screen all immigrants who enter the United States illegally based on these criteria. Instead, most border crossers in recent months have been released with lawsuits that can take years to be decided, amid a backlog of applications.
Additionally, if this measure is implemented, it will almost certainly face lawsuits.
On the other hand, in the last version, Trump administration's so-called “travel ban” That ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court, but lower courts blocked the government from using its Section 212(f) power to disqualify most immigrants from asylum at the southern border.
It is unclear how the Biden administration expects its efforts to invoke 212(f) powers to prevail in court. U.S. law gives immigrants on U.S. soil the right to apply for asylum even if they cross the border without authorization.
Lee Geraint, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who successfully persuaded a federal judge to end the Trump administration's asylum ban, said the government would be sued again if Biden issues a similar order. suggested that it was likely.
“An executive order denying asylum based on port of entry is an attempt at exactly the same policy that President Trump tried and failed, and will no doubt lead to litigation,” Geraint told CBS News. .
