LOS ANGELES.–President Joe Biden’s reelection team blindsided 77-year-old President Donald Trump by signing an executive order for immediate border reform, refusing to take asylum applications when the weekly average exceeds 2,500. Biden tried to engage Republicans in immigration reform but was rebuked by 52-year-old House Speaker Mike Johnson, (R-La.), refusing to hand Biden a legislative victory during an Election Year. Republicans have used the immigration issue to try to impeach 64-year-old Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, something that failed but highlighted the way Republicans hoped to exploit the border issue to win votes in November. Biden’s executive order is an egregious publicity stunt without any real teeth to enforce an open border policy that has flooded the U.S. with potentially dangerous criminals, terrorists and deadly fentanyl.
Announcing a change to the Immigration and Nationalization Act, Biden signed the executive order, preempting Trump from using the out-of-control U.S. border to make a case against Biden in the 2024 election. “There are several differences between the actions that we are taking today and Trump era policies. The Trump administration attacked almost every facet of the immigration system and did so in a shameful and inhumane way,” said an unnamed Biden administration official. Biden’s new policy gives the Border Patrol the authority to refuse entry of asylum seekers when the weekly average exceeds 2,500. Giving the Border Patrol the right to refuse entry doesn’t deal of with the bulk of illegal crossers, not subject to Border Patrol interdiction or detention. Border officials under the new order will reject “fear interviews” for asylum seekers.
Border Patrol lacks the resources to enforce the new policy, instead allowing asylum seekers to be released into the interior with deportation orders, something currently unenforceable. Biden’s policy excludes unaccompanied minors seeking asylum due to fear of torture or death, something that doesn’t stop under Biden’s executive order. White House officials say the new policy conforms to international laws related to asylum seekers. Saying they plan to toughen border security, enforcement and targeting smuggling networks that profit from border related crimes. “The goal here is to secure our border while preserving our values as a nation,” said an unnamed White House official. Whether admitted to or not by the White House, dealing with smuggling networks won’t be overnight, requiring improvements over the long-haul, taking years, not months.
Biden’s new executive order is designed to hit Trump hard with accusations about blocking comprehensive immigration and border security in Congress. Republicans want to know why Biden waited until an Election Year to announce any change in border policy? Biden’s policy of stopping asylum must meet the 2,500 weekly average when it comes to asylum seekers. So there’s plenty of room for Biden officials to stretch the threshold beyond the current numbers to allow the same number of asylum seekers to come through the border. “If Congress refuses to act, and if congressional Republicans refuse to act, the president is prepared to do so,” said a White House Spokesman, slapping the Trump campaign. Biden’s executive order promises to do very little to limit the amount of asylum seekers all claiming they’ve been threatened in their countries with torture and death.
Biden wants to prove to voters that he’s doing something serious about the border knowing that he’s losing votes to Trump. Republicans say Biden’s executive order is an hour-late-and-dollar short, requiring action not today but over the last three years. White House officials claim that Biden wanted a bipartisan border security bill but was blocked by Congressional Republicans. Biden blamed Trump in 2020 for implementing a cruel policy that kept asylum seekers in cages at the border, actually separating children from their families. Now Biden wants to tell voters that only Republicans have blocked his actions on the border, something he was prepared to do years ago. Biden’s executive order won’t stop the flow of illegal immigrants, whether asylum seekers or others. Biden’s actions today are designed to stop votes from going to Trump.
Today’s executive order was a whole lot of partisan whoopla, not anything that will have a substantial change to the border problem. It’s clear the Biden campaign wants to sell Joe as the one who seeks real border reform, not Trump who would implement inhuman border practices. “For three years, America’s border security has been devastated by congressional Republican opposition to the law enforcement resources that President Biden has sought,” said Deputy White House Press Secretary Andrew Bates. Showing that there’s no limit to White House spin, Bates couldn’t stop himself. “For three years, Joe Biden ahs led on border security and congressional Republicans have obstructed it—all in the name of politics,” Bates said, proving Biden’s order is nothing more than a PR stunt. Biden has done nothing on the border until now when he’s losing in the polls.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
