The Inmates Are Running the Asylum Requests
The ink is barely dry on President Biden’s executive order tightening border restrictions, but it’s not too soon to predict that everyone will complain about it. Felonies, efforts to overturn elections, and the future viability of American democracy aside, the border is possibly the hottest hot button issue leading into the 2024 election. It was the first policy issue Trump brought up following his conviction. And a bipartisan Congressional bill to address the border was scuttled by the GOP after Trump indicated he didn’t want Biden to have an election year legislative win. So today’s executive order while something, is not the something we need. And getting the something we need seems impossible given a political landscape that borders on the absurd. “Facing mounting political pressure over the migrant influx at the U.S. southern border, President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed an executive order that will temporarily shut down asylum requests once the average number of daily encounters tops 2,500 between official ports of entry.”
+ “The order will go into effect when the number of border encounters between ports of entry hits 2,500 per day, according to senior administration officials. That means Biden’s order should go into effect immediately, because that figure is higher than the daily averages now.” AP: Biden rolls out migration order that aims to shut down asylum requests.
+ “Migrants who illegally cross the border will be largely blocked from asylum and could face fast-tracked deportation, according to U.S. officials.
One senior administration official told reporters Tuesday that removal to Mexico or a migrant’s home country could happen as fast as in a matter of hours under the new order.” Axios: What Biden’s new border action means for migrants. Two big hurdles: One, there’s no new Congressional funding to implement the new policies. Two, there will be almost immediate court challenges to the order. Oh and three, this is a serious issue that demands serious consideration and we live in unserious times. (At least with the order signed, Biden can get back to a less politically fraught and divisive issue: Making peace in the Middle East.)
