President Biden Trump is expected to announce executive action on Tuesday to tackle the ongoing migration crisis at the southern border, as he faces significant political pressure on the issue from both the left and the right, as well as voters.
Details of what will be announced are unclear at this time, but Fox News reported On Monday, he said the order is expected before he leaves for Europe. Some outlets reported it could include a system to prevent additional migrants from entering the US when a certain number of people are detained in a given day.
President Biden speaks to a member of the Border Patrol as he walks along the US-Mexico border fence in El Paso, Texas, on January 8, 2023. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
The mechanism could echo a measure in a so-far failed bipartisan Senate bill that was unveiled earlier this year and has the backing of the Biden administration but has so far failed to garner enough support to pass in the upper chamber. In that bill, a Title-42-style removal authority would allow agents to quickly remove migrants crossing the border.
Biden could try to impose an authorization by executive order using Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows presidents to limit the entry of foreign nationals into the U.S.
Former President Trump 212(f) has been invoked several times during the presidency, but attempts to use it to restrict border crossings failed because of a legal challenge. Any similar move by President Biden will almost certainly face a similar challenge.
Officials told Fox that the president had no plans to visit the southern border before departing for Europe.
The order comes amid a standoff over the burning issue of illegal immigration. In recent months, the number of migrant encounters has declined from the record highs seen in December, when there were more than 200,000 migrant encounters.
There were 179,725 encounters at the southern border in April, compared to 211,992 in April 2023 and 189,357 in March. While these numbers are lower than the highest numbers seen in 2022 and 2023, they still remain high when compared to numbers prior to 2021.
The Biden administration has repeatedly said its hands are largely tied when it comes to fixing the “broken” immigration system and has repeatedly called on Congress for additional reforms and funding. In a statement to Fox News Digital on Monday, the White House said it “continues to explore a range of policy options and we are committed to taking action to address our broken immigration system.”
A White House spokesperson said, “Congressional Republicans are not concerned about securing the border or fixing America’s broken immigration system. If they were, they would have voted for the most stringent border enforcement in history. Instead, they prioritize partisan politics ahead of our country’s national security.”
“While congressional Republicans have chosen to stand in the way of additional border enforcement, President Biden will not stop fighting to provide the resources that border and immigration personnel need to secure our border.”
However, Republicans have blamed the administration’s policies, including rolling back Trump-era policies such as wall construction, migrant protection protocols and increased interior enforcement. They have passed their own legislation in the House that would substantially limit asylum claims and resume border wall construction and similar measures. It has not yet been taken up by the Senate.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox News Sunday that the reported action by Biden was “too little, too late.”
President Biden walks along a section of the US-Mexico border in El Paso Texas on January 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
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“Now he is trying to somehow show the American people that he wants to solve the issue that he himself created,” he said.
“We’ve documented 64 specific executive actions taken by President Biden and DHS Secretary Mayorkas over the last three and a half years to open the border. Why? They did it on purpose. And it has had a catastrophic impact on our country that we will live with for decades to come,” he said.
The administration is facing pressure from Democratic states and cities where large numbers of migrants have arrived. Mayors of cities such as New York City, Denver and Chicago have demanded more money from the federal government and called for additional action, including expediting work permits. Recently, 15 House Democrats wrote a letter to Biden calling for additional action at the southern border.
“It has become clear that the current situation remains intolerable, but with Republicans playing politics on border security, it is time for your administration to take action. We urge you to use all tools available to you, including executive action, to better address security at the southern border, curb illicit fentanyl, and allow orderly legal immigration,” the letter says.
Meanwhile, the illegal immigration crisis looks set to become a major election issue. Fox News Poll It found that seven in 10 voters go so far as to say the White House has “mostly failed” to improve border security.
Trump won in 2016 thanks to his plan to fix the southern border, an issue that Biden’s critics say he has failed to properly address.
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But recently the administration has used more aggressive language on this crisis. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas He said some migrants are trying to cheat the system.
“The reality is that some people really do try to cheat the system,” Mayorkas said. CBS News last month. “This doesn’t apply to everyone we meet, but there’s always some element of it, and we deal with it accordingly.”
Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.
