President Biden is expected to announce a sweeping executive action intended to crack down on illegal border crossings.
Why it matters: The drastic move has been months in the making and marks a striking shift in the administration toward embracing tougher measures at the border.
Driving the news: Biden, who Republicans have cast as responsible for a rise in border crossings, is expected to announce and sign the executive order sometime Tuesday at the White House, accompanied by South Texas mayors.
- The administration has been reaching out to and briefing several border area mayors and members of Congress in recent days, multiple sources confirmed to Axios.
Zoom in: The order will rely on part of the U.S. code called 212(f). It will enable border officials to quickly turn back migrants who illegally cross the border — without a chance at asylum — when border crossings meet a certain threshold.
- This asylum shutdown would occur once illegal border crossings reach an average of 2,500 a day, the AP first reported and sources familiar confirmed to Axios. The restrictions are expected to go into effect immediately once the order is final.
- Government officials had discussed capping the number at 4,000 or 5,000 average crossings a day in earlier months.
- The order mirrors a bipartisan border deal struck earlier this year, which Republicans killed at the direction of former President Trump. Trump is aiming to again focus his presidential campaign on the border issue, which ranks high among concerns for voters.
- The implementation of the order will heavily rely on cooperation from Mexico — which just held elections on Sunday, and will soon inaugurate the nation's first woman president.
What they're saying: "While Congressional Republicans chose to stand in the way of additional border enforcement, President Biden will not stop fighting to deliver the resources that border and immigration personnel need to secure our border," a White House spokesperson said in a statement.
- "I've been briefed on the pending executive order. I certainly support it because I've been advocating for these measures for years. While the order is yet to be released, I am supportive of the details provided to me thus far," Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Tex.), who has long pushed the Biden administration to embrace tougher actions, told Axios.
What to watch: The action is expected to face rapid legal action.
- "We will need to see the EO before making any litigation decisions," said Lee Gelernt, an ACLU attorney who has led several high-profile immigration cases in recent years.
- "[A]ny policy that effectively ends asylum protection for people fleeing danger would raise significant legal problems, as it did when Trump tried to end asylum," Gelernt added.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional reporting and new information on potential border crossing limits.
