(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Chicago Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-3) says President Biden's Executive Order endangers asylum seekers at the Southern border and fails to address the real issues.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday unveiled plans to enact immediate significant restrictions on migrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border as the White House tries to neutralize immigration as a political liability ahead of the November elections.
The long-anticipated presidential proclamation would bar migrants from being granted asylum when U.S. officials deem that the southern border is overwhelmed. The Democratic president had contemplated unilateral action for months after the collapse of a bipartisan border security deal in Congress that most Republican lawmakers rejected at the behest of former President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.
“I know we have to do something about the number of people that are seeking asylum,” Ramirez said.
“We certainly need to figure out what is causing so many people, so many women and children to leave their home and, and go through the most horrific situations. Restricting people's ability to seek asylum, however, is not going to address the issue of the need to seek asylum.”
Ramirez said that the restrictions don’t mean that people won’t cross the border in desperation. It does mean that they won’t find relief.
Rep. Jesús García (D-4) also spoke out against the president’s latest directive.
“The Executive Order contradicts international and domestic law—previous asylum bans have been repeatedly struck down by U.S. courts—and runs contrary to our values as a nation. This renewed ban is bad policy, since evidence suggests asylum bans simply do not work,” a released statement from García read in part.
In a released statement: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson called for congress to work with Biden:
“As President Joe Biden has said, our reliance on a nearly 40-year-old immigration process is inadequate for effectively and humanely addressing today’s challenges. Congress has the responsibility to provide meaningful reform – reform that includes permanent solutions for Dreamers, spouses of American citizens and long-term workers.
“It is time for Congress to finally work with President Biden to pass comprehensive immigration reform, and create fair and functional policies for our country.”
Trump used his social media account to assail Biden again over immigration, saying the Democrat had “totally surrendered our Southern Border” and his order was “all for show” ahead of their June 27 presidential debate.
The order will go into effect when the number of border encounters between ports of entry hits 2,500 per day, according to senior administration officials. That means Biden’s order should go into effect immediately, because the daily averages are higher now. Average daily arrests for illegal crossings from Mexico were last below 2,500 in January 2021, the month Biden took office. The last time the border encounters dipped to 1,500 a day was in July 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The restrictions would be in effect until two weeks after the daily encounter numbers are at or below 1,500 per day between ports of entry, under a seven-day average. Those figures were first reported by The Associated Press on Monday.
Homeland Security said increased enforcement with Mexico since high-level bilateral meetings in late December has lowered illegal crossings but is “likely to be less effective over time,” creating a need for more action. “Smuggling networks are adaptable, responding to changes put in place,” the department said in a federal rule published Tuesday.
The department predicts that arrests for illegal crossings may climb to a daily average as high as 6,700 from July through September.
Once this order is in effect, migrants who arrive at the border but do not express fear of returning to their home countries will be subject to immediate removal from the United States, within a matter of days or even hours. Those migrants could face punishments that could include a five-year bar from reentering the U.S. or even criminal prosecution.
Meanwhile, anyone who expresses that fear or an intention to seek asylum will be screened by a U.S. asylum officer but at a higher standard than currently used. If they pass the screening, they can pursue more limited forms of humanitarian protection, including the U.N. Convention Against Torture.
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(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)