The Biden administration is considering executive action to stop illegal immigration from crossing the southern border, two U.S. officials said.
While it seems unlikely that any border security legislation will pass Congress, the plan under consideration is something the White House wants to act on before border patrol numbers, which have declined over the past month, rise again as expected. This suggests that he is thinking that.
Officials say the plan has been under consideration for several months. In December, as Congress prepared to leave town for the holidays without a border solution, illegal border crossings in the Southwest reached a record of more than 10,000 per day.
Officials said the unilateral measures under consideration could upset some progressives in Congress, who have called for more help from the federal government to deal with the influx of immigrants into cities. He noted that Democratic mayors would be happy. The measure is still in draft and is not expected to be implemented immediately.
Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked a bipartisan border bill they have been negotiating with Democrats and the Biden administration in recent months.
“The administration is introducing the toughest and fairest bipartisan border security bill in decades as we seek significant policy reforms and additional funding from Congress to secure our borders,” the White House spokesperson said in a statement. We have spent several months negotiating in good faith to do so.” ”
“Today, Republicans in Congress chose to put partisan politics ahead of national security and voted against what our Border Patrol agents need. No regulatory action will be able to accomplish what it would have done.”
Officials say that no matter how much any executive action appears to increase immigration enforcement, both at the border and in the interior of the United States, it pales in comparison to the effects that would result if Congress passed a border security bill. He said it would be.
“This is Plan B,” a source said. Both officials said doing nothing was not an option.
President Joe Biden claimed on Tuesday that the bipartisan bill would “make important fixes to our broken immigration system” and is “the toughest, fairest legislation” on the border ever proposed. said.
Biden is facing growing political opposition over his handling of the border issue, some of which is coming from members of his own party, as he seeks re-election. He will cite the Republican reversal on the bipartisan border bill as evidence that Republicans have no intention of solving the problem for political reasons. But he remains vulnerable on this issue, trailing his likely 2024 opponent, former President Donald Trump, by more than 30 points on border security and immigration, according to a new NBC News poll released this week. There is.
The Biden administration has already taken several unilateral actions to try to stem the flow of migrants.
After COVID-19 restrictions at the border were lifted in May, the Department of Homeland Security introduced restrictions that made more immigrants eligible for expedited deportation.But that overwhelming number means the vast majority of migrants apprehended by Border Patrol agents are still released into the United States.
