Biden channels Trump, announces southern border shutdown to limit asylum seekers

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After three years of border chaos, President Biden said Tuesday he is ready to get tough on illegal immigrants, breaking the cycle of catch-and-release with a broad shutdown, effective immediately.

The bold move taps the kinds of tools President Trump used to secure the border. Mr. Biden tossed those tools during his early months in office but now finds them expedient.

Mr. Biden is issuing a proclamation suspending the entry of migrants who cross the southern border “unlawfully,” and the Homeland Security and Justice departments are issuing rules limiting those migrants’ ability to claim asylum.

The result will be faster deportations and, Mr. Biden hopes, fewer people attempting to enter unlawfully.

“I’ve come here today to do what Republicans in Congress refuse to do: take the necessary steps to secure the border,” Mr. Biden said in a brief speech at the White House in front of large screens blaring “Secure the Border.”

Others saw the goal as political.

“President Biden is in trouble politically. He’s polling right up there with fungal infections,” said Sen. John Kennedy, Louisiana Republican. “Now, five months before an election, he has to appear to be willing to do something about it. Hence, this executive order.”

Experts estimate that 5 million illegal immigrants have jumped the border and managed to settle in the U.S. since Mr. Biden took office. Most were caught and knowingly released, while others sneaked across the border without being apprehended.

Officials said the shutdown is effective immediately. It applies to people who show up at the southern border without prior approval, either through a visa or by asking for “parole.” Those who come anyway will have limited chances to fight deportation.

The policy mirrors the core of a bill that was worked out in the Senate this year but failed in two separate votes.

Illegal immigration has reached staggering heights under Mr. Biden.

In December 2020, the last full month under Mr. Trump, Customs and Border Protection caught roughly 75,000 illegal immigrants at the southern border, and nearly all of them were expelled, deported or detained.

In December 2023, under Mr. Biden, CBP tallied more than 300,000 illegal immigrants at the southern border, and a majority were quickly released.

On Tuesday, Mr. Biden blamed a global migrant crisis and sounded reluctant about having to seal the border.

“The simple truth is there is a worldwide migrant crisis,” he said. “If the United States doesn’t secure our border, there is no limit to the number of people that will try to come here.”

The White House said the border shutdown will kick in whenever CBP averages more than 2,500 daily encounters with illegal immigrants at the southern border. It remains in effect until illegal encounters drop below 1,500 for at least a week.

Mr. Biden’s policy flexes powers under sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Those broad powers allow the president to suspend the entry of certain classes of migrants when he deems it in the national interest.

Mr. Trump used those powers for his travel ban.

Just like the travel ban and other Trump immigration policies, Mr. Biden’s policy will face quick legal challenges from immigrant rights advocates, who said the president has betrayed them.

“President Biden’s executive order is a direct assault on the fundamental human right to seek asylum,” said Guerline Jozef, executive director of Haitian Bridge Alliance. “It is unconscionable to turn our backs on people in their greatest moment of need. President Biden must keep his commitment to restore America’s soul.”

Activists said families and those fleeing real cases of persecution may be denied protections they would otherwise have under U.S. law.

Mr. Biden responded by telling them to “be patient.”

“I take these steps today not to walk away from who we are as Americans but to make sure we preserve who we are for generations to come,” he said.

Even as immigration rights activists complained that the announcement went too far, current and former Homeland Security Department officials doubted it would have any teeth.

“The administration put out this massive rule that says we’re going to continue doing the exact same thing we’ve been doing without any intention to change it,” said one current department employee.

Sen. Christopher Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat involved in writing the failed Senate bill, said he backed the idea behind the administration’s plan but was skeptical Mr. Biden could do it through executive action.

“I doubt that this is going to pass judicial muster,” he said. “It’s a pretty extraordinary exercise of executive power. My belief from the beginning has been that you need legislation in order to shut down the border absent a public health emergency. And I think that’s probably what the courts will conclude.”

Mr. Biden’s team insisted it was on firm legal ground.

“We are prepared for any litigation on this rule,” an official told reporters.

Andrew “Art” Arthur, a former immigration judge, said the president is playing legal games. He expects immigration rights activists to file lawsuits in courts that ruled against similar Trump-style policies. Those courts will likely issue quick injunctions against Mr. Biden.

He said the test would be how vigorously Mr. Biden defends his policies and whether he caves to the legal challenges after the election.

“This is ‘Remain in Mexico,’ only it’s more susceptible to judicial attack. This is really just eye wash. This is papering over all the problems at the border and funneling migrants into the United States through the port of entry,” said Mr. Arthur, now a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies.

Mr. Biden bristled at the idea he was mirroring Mr. Trump.

He said his plans aren’t aimed at a specific religion — apparently a reference to Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign rhetoric about a “Muslim ban” — and don’t “demonize immigrants.”

His aides said Mr. Biden may be using the same authorities as Mr. Trump but has taken pains to carve out big exceptions.

The speedy deportation policy does not apply to unaccompanied alien children, or minors who show up at the border without a parent. Migrants will still be screened for what is known as withholding of removal and the Convention Against Torture, which means some may be able to block their deportations even if they don’t qualify for asylum.

The policy does not affect the mass of illegal immigrants who have been entering the U.S. through Mr. Biden’s expansive use of “parole” powers.

Up to 1,450 migrants are granted parole each day at border crossings from Mexico as long as they schedule their arrivals ahead of time. Roughly 1,000 more are paroled directly into airports in the interior of the U.S.

Administration officials said they would try to carry out the deportations with current funding but claimed Congress’ allocation of money in recent years has been inadequate.

Much of that is Mr. Biden’s doing. He submitted repeated budgets that called for cuts to migrant detention, and Congress rebuffed those calls. Late last year, Mr. Biden reversed course and embraced higher detention and deportation spending as part of the failed Senate negotiations.

Officials acknowledged they will still struggle to handle the massive wave of migrants coming from far afield. They have reported a big increase in the number of migrants from China, for example, and China is listed as a noncooperative country for accepting back deportees.

Officials said they hope to change the way migrants think about their journey.

“When we have the ability to remove individuals quickly, it can significantly impact migrant flows by changing the calculus for intending migrants,” a senior administration official said.

The theory is that when migrants are caught and released, the money they pay smugglers is worth it. If they are quickly deported, the money isn’t worth it.

Mexicans typically pay $9,000 to $10,000 to reach the U.S., according to The Washington Times’ database of border smuggling cases. Central Americans typically pay $12,000, and those from South America can pay more than $20,000. Those from outside the hemisphere can pay as much as $60,000.

The administration said part of its plan involves stepping up efforts to block those extracontinental migrants from reaching North America in the first place.

It said it would block visas for executives of Colombian companies that smuggled migrants by sea and would slap visa limits on more than 250 members of Nicaragua’s government, which makes money off migrants by selling transit visas for those using the country as a waypoint en route to the U.S.

Mr. Biden’s timing is curious.

The border hit its worst point in December and has improved significantly since then as Mexico has stepped up its efforts to prevent illegal immigrants from reaching the border. Indeed, the past few months have been the best of Mr. Biden’s tenure.

Prodded on the timing, U.S. officials who briefed reporters on Tuesday said Mr. Biden is acting now because of the potential for higher migration over the summer months and the politics of the moment.

One official pointed to the Senate’s recent failure to pass a broad border bill for a second time.

Left unsaid was Mr. Biden’s precarious polling on the issue. Immigration and the border regularly rank high on voters’ list of concerns, and they consistently give Mr. Biden his lowest marks for his handling of the issue.

Republicans called the steps too little and too late.

“Why didn’t Biden do this 10 million migrants ago?” said Sen. Bill Cassidy, Louisiana Republican.

The Trump campaign said in a statement that Mr. Biden’s plan is an “amnesty, not border security.”

“If Joe Biden truly wanted to shut down the border, he could do so with a swipe of the same pen, but he never will because he is controlled by radical left Democrats who seek to destroy America,” the campaign said. “The border invasion and migrant crime will not stop until Crooked Joe Biden is deported from the White House.”

• Lindsey McPherson contributed to this report.