5 months before the elections, Biden expands restrictions on the border with Mexico

The President of the United States, Joe Biden (Democrat), issued this Tuesday (June 4, 2024) an executive order that imposes a temporary restriction on asylum on the border between the USA and Mexico. The measure, which adopts a more restrictive approach to the border, is similar to an attempt by former President Donald Trump in 2018, which was blocked by the courts.

The change is made 5 months before the United States presidential elections, in which the migration issue is one of the main topics debated in the race for the White House and one of the main criticisms of Republicans against the Democrat’s administration.

Biden’s order will be activated when the average of illegal entries exceeds 2,500 per day for 7 days. As current numbers already exceed this limit, implementation of the order can be immediate. This will allow border officials to return migrants to Mexico or their home countries in a matter of hours, or days.

There would be few exceptions, such as unaccompanied minors, victims of human trafficking and people scheduling an asylum appointment through a Customs and Border Protection app.

The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) has already announced that it will challenge the order in court. “The administration left us little choice but to sue”, said Lee Gelernt, the entity’s lawyer. The measure aims to discourage illegal crossings, allowing the border to reopen to asylum seekers only when the number of crossings decreases significantly.

According to the White House, the border will reopen when the number of crossings remains below 1,500 per day for 7 consecutive days. After two weeks of this period, the border will reopen to migrants.

The policy represents a significant shift in Biden’s approach to immigration, contrasting with his previous criticism of Trump’s efforts to restrict asylum.

“This is the first president in the history of the United States that anyone seeking asylum has to do so in another country.”declared Biden in 2019.

Even with the executive order, migrants can still request other protections if they can prove that the displacement is to avoid torture in their countries. However, this screening is more rigorous than asylum and few are expected to be accepted into the US.