President Joe Biden is considering an immigration crackdown that would close the border if more than 8,500 people try to cross in a single day, a law repeatedly used by former President Donald Trump.
If the migrant crisis were to reach these numbers per day, the law would unilaterally impose a sweeping ban at the southern border, according to three people familiar with the deliberations.
The administration, stymied by lawmakers who rejected a negotiated border bill earlier this month, has been exploring options that Biden could deploy on his own without congressional approval.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has repeatedly called on President Biden to use the 212(f) authority.
The immigration authority the administration has been looking at is set out in Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which gives a president broad latitude to block the entry of certain immigrants into the United States if doing so would be “detrimental” to the national identity. interest of the United States.
President Joe Biden is considering an immigration policy that would close the border if more than 8,500 people try to cross in a single day, a law that former President Donald Trump has repeatedly used
The law would unilaterally impose a sweeping ban at the southern border if the migrant crisis reached those daily numbers, according to three people familiar with the deliberations.
Trump, the likely Republican nominee to face Biden this fall, repeatedly leaned on the 212(f) power during his time in office, including his controversial ban on banning travelers from Muslim-majority countries.
Biden rescinded that ban via executive order on his first day in office after Democrats outraged and blasted Trump over the policy.
But now consideration is being given to how Biden would use that power to address his own immigration challenges, and it could be used in a variety of ways, according to the people familiar with the discussions.
For example, the ban could come into effect when the number of border crossings reaches a certain number. That mirrors a provision in the Senate border deal, which would have triggered the expulsion of migrants if the number of illegal border crossings exceeded 5,000 per day for five days.
Yet the comprehensive immigration overhaul that Biden also introduced on his first day in office — and which the White House continues to tout — includes provisions that would effectively roll back a president’s power to exclude immigrants under that authority.
The Biden team’s exploration of such options underscores the pressure the president faces this election year on immigration and the border, which have been among his biggest political commitments since taking office.
For now, the White House has pressured Republicans in Congress for refusing to act on border legislation called for by the GOP, but the administration is also aware of the political dangers that large numbers of migrants could pose to the president and tries to figure out how Biden could alleviate the problem on his own.
White House spokesman Angelo Fernández Hernández emphasized that “no executive action, no matter how aggressive, can deliver the significant policy reforms and additional resources that Congress can provide and that Republicans have rejected.”
Trump, the likely Republican nominee to face Biden this fall, repeatedly leaned on the 212(f) power during his time in office, including his controversial ban on banning travelers from Muslim-majority countries.
How Biden would use that power to address his own immigration challenges is currently under consideration, and it could be used in a variety of ways, according to the people familiar with the discussions.
For example, the ban could come into effect when the number of border crossings reaches a certain number. That mirrors a provision in the Senate border deal, which would have triggered the expulsion of migrants if the number of illegal border crossings exceeded 5,000 per day for five days.
The Biden team’s exploration of such options underscores the pressure the president faces this election year on immigration and the border, which have been among his biggest political commitments since taking office.
An aerial photo shows a group of immigrants trying to cross the Texas border despite increased security measures in Eagle Pass, Texas
“The Administration has spent months negotiating in good faith to pass the strongest and fairest bipartisan border security law in decades, because we need Congress to enact important policy reforms and provide additional funding to secure our border and fix our broken immigration system.” fix,” he said.
“Republicans in Congress chose to put party politics above our national security, rejected what border agents said they needed, and then gave themselves a two-week vacation.”
Arrests for illegal crossings at the U.S. border with Mexico fell by half in January, falling from record highs in December to the third lowest month of Biden’s presidency.
But officials fear those numbers could eventually rise again, especially as the November presidential election approaches.
The plans are far from finalized and it is unclear how the administration would craft 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.