President Joe Biden issued an executive order barring asylum when daily migrant apprehensions at the U.S. southern border hit a seven-day average of 2,500. This move could result in the deportation of some migrants in a matter of days, even hours.
“If they choose to come without permission and against the law, they’ll be restricted from receiving asylum and staying in the United States,” President Biden said.
Some members of Congress, like Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), showed their support.
“This is going to help us secure the border,” Rep. Gonzalez said.
Biden appeared to take a page from former President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration playbook. Trump tried implementing a similar policy in 2018. The ACLU led the challenge that caused courts to strike it down and said it plans to sue the Biden administration too.
Administration officials defended the executive order, saying it includes humanitarian exceptions for unaccompanied migrant children, for some medical emergencies, and for victims of severe human trafficking.
The timing of the announcement is raising eyebrows among advocates like Sister Norma Pimentel because migrant apprehensions at the southern border have plummeted.
“I would think it’s because of the fact that we’re having an election very soon,” said Sister Norma Pimentel, Executive Director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley. “And if he doesn’t show a different optic picture, then they’re losing.”
The apparent White House strategy now is to point fingers at Republicans who failed to support the Senate’s bipartisan border bill.
But some Republicans fired right back, saying it’s too little too late.
The national correspondent for The Tablet and Crux, John Lavenburg, joins Currents News to discuss more about the Catholic reaction to President Biden’s new border policy.