The Biden administration has taken a tough call to take the necessary steps to secure the border amid a surge in illegal migrants and asylum seekers. US President Joe Biden signed an executive order essentially stopping asylum at the US southern border which it shares with Mexico. He said the border is not a political issue to be weaponized.
A senior US administration official said the order, which falls under the Immigration and Nationality Act sections 212(f) and 215(a), comes into immediate effect as the threshold has been already met. He highlighted that the border would reopen only when the number falls to 1,500. Officials said individuals who cross the southern border unlawfully will be ineligible for asylum.
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Biden told a press conference that the restrictions would help the United States gain control of the border, and restore order. He said the ban would remain in place until the number of people trying to enter legally is reduced to a level that the US system can effectively manage. The restrictions do not apply to those who join at official ports of entry or use other legal means. Unaccompanied children, victims of severe forms of trafficking and people with medical emergencies are exempted.
Joe Biden’s Border Order Criticized
Biden’s border order has not ended well with some lawmakers and organizations. Senator Alex Padilla, chair of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, citizenship, and border safety, said Biden’s new order would be ineffective. He believes it undermines American values and abandoned that nation’s obligations to provide people fleeing persecution, violence and authoritarianism with an opportunity to seek refuge in the United States.
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Amy Fischer, director of Refugee and Migrant Rights at Amnesty International America, said the executive action plays into false narratives about the invasions at the border and advances a policy grounded in white supremacist ideas at the expense of people in search of safety in the US.
She highlighted that Biden’s action sets a dangerous international precedent as a first-of-its-kind numerical cap on asylum, limiting the number of people who can claim asylum in the United States. Fischer believes the order effectively shutting down the US-Mexico border plays on the same legal authority that the Trump administration used to implement the dangerous and xenophobic Muslim and African travel bans.
Border Order Was Illegal Then, and Illegal Now
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is set to take legal action against the executive order. Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project said it was illegal when Trump did it, and its no less illegal now.
An immigration lawyer Gustavo Mora said the order wouldn’t change the fact that migrants are going to be waiting and try to get an appointment under the CBP One act, or just cross into the US without permission. The executive order doesn’t solve the migrant crisis.
