President Joe Biden is considering an immigration crackdown that would close the border if more than 8,500 people try to cross in a day, a law repeatedly used by former president donald trump.
The law, if the migrant crisis reached those numbers per day, would unilaterally enact a blanket ban at the southern border, according to three people familiar with the deliberations.
The administration, hampered by lawmakers who rejected a negotiated border bill earlier this month, has been exploring options that Biden could implement on his own without congressional approval.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has repeatedly called on President Biden to use 212(f) authority.
The immigration authority the administration has been investigating is outlined in Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which gives the president broad latitude to block certain immigrants from entering the United States if ” harmful” to the national system. interest of the United States.
President Joe Biden is considering an immigration crackdown that would close the border if more than 8,500 people try to cross in a day, a law used repeatedly by former President Donald Trump.
The law, if the migrant crisis reached those numbers per day, would unilaterally enact a blanket ban at the southern border, according to three people familiar with the deliberations.
Trump, who is the Republican nominee likely to face Biden this fall, repeatedly relied on the 212(f) power while in office, including his controversial ban on banning travelers from Muslim-majority countries.
Biden rescinded that ban on his first day in office by executive order after Democrats fumed and criticized Trump over the policy.
But how Biden would deploy that power to address his own immigration challenges is now being considered, and it could be used in a variety of ways, according to people familiar with the discussions.
For example, the ban could take effect when border crossings reach a certain number. This echoes a provision in the Senate border agreement, which would have triggered migrant expulsions if the number of illegal border crossings exceeded 5,000 daily for an average of five days.
However, the comprehensive immigration reform that Biden also introduced on his first day in office — which the White House continues to promote — includes provisions that would effectively reduce the president’s powers to ban immigrants under that authority.
The Biden team’s exploration of such avenues underscores the pressure the president faces this election year over immigration and the border, which have been among his biggest policy responsibilities since taking office.
For now, the White House has been criticizing congressional Republicans for refusing to act on border legislation that the GOP was demanding, but the administration is also aware of the political dangers that large numbers of immigrants could pose to the president and is struggling to figure out how to do it. Biden could alleviate the problem alone.
White House spokesman Angelo Fernández Hernández stressed that ‘no executive action, no matter how aggressive, can achieve the important political reforms and additional resources that Congress can provide and that Republicans rejected.’
Trump, who is the Republican nominee likely to face Biden this fall, repeatedly relied on the 212(f) power while in office, including his controversial ban on barring entry to travelers from Muslim-majority countries.
How Biden would deploy that power to address his own immigration challenges is currently being considered, and it could be used in a variety of ways, according to people familiar with the discussions.
For example, the ban could take effect when border crossings reach a certain number. This echoes a provision in the Senate border agreement, which would have triggered migrant expulsions if the number of illegal border crossings exceeded 5,000 daily for an average of five days.
The Biden team’s exploration of such avenues underscores the pressure the president faces this election year over immigration and the border, which have been among his biggest policy responsibilities since taking office.
An aerial view shows a group of migrants attempting to cross the Texas border despite heightened security measures in Eagle Pass, Texas.
“The administration spent months negotiating in good faith to deliver the toughest and fairest bipartisan border security bill in decades because we need Congress to make meaningful policy reforms and provide additional funding to secure our border and fix our broken immigration system.” , said.
“Congressional Republicans chose to put partisan politics before our national security, refused what border agents said they needed, and then took a two-week vacation.”
Arrests for illegal crossings at the U.S. border with Mexico fell by half in January from record levels in December to the third lowest month of Biden’s presidency.
But officials fear those numbers could eventually rise again, particularly as the November presidential election approaches.
The plans are far from finalized and it is unclear how the administration would draft such executive actions in a way that would survive the inevitable legal challenges.
The officials and those familiar with the conversations spoke on condition of anonymity to comment on ongoing private discussions at the White House.