(New York Post) President Biden is planning executive action that would allow him to shut down the US-Mexico border once the number of migrant crossings reaches 4,000 per day, a source close to the White House told The Post Wednesday.
The order would match a provision in the bipartisan border bill that failed to pass the Senate in February, which gave the president authority to expel migrants when border crossings reached the same daily average.
The legislative proposal would have given the homeland security secretary discretionary authority to carry out removals — but would have made deportations mandatory when illegal entries surpassed 5,000 per day over a one-week period.
The bill allowed for the suspension of that authority two weeks after the seven-day average falls to 75% of those levels.
A federal government source confirmed to The Post that an executive order to limit entries was coming, though it was unclear when it would be announced.
The White House declined to comment.
In April, southwestern border authorities stopped an average of 5,990 migrants per day, according to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) — a figure which does not include so-called “gotaways” who escaped detection and arrest.
Traditionally, the number of border crossing dips in the summer months, with migrants less inclined to try and enter the US illegally in the intense heat. However, last year, the average number of border crossers encountered per day rose from 4,819 in June to 5,919 in July to 7,515 in August to 8,991 in September.
The US Border Patrol currently has more than 10,000 migrants in custody nationwide, according to internal CBP data exclusively obtained by The Post.
Five Border Patrol sectors have exceeded their migrant holding capacity, with the San Diego region keeping 1,675 migrants in facilities that can only hold a total of 1,000 individuals.
A spokeswoman for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) — who has repeatedly called on Biden to take action on the border — said the executive order would “prove” the president “doesn’t need Congress to pass legislation to take action on the border.”
In January, Biden insisted that lawmakers had to approve the border bill before he could take further action to limit illegal immigration, telling reporters he had “done all I can do.”
“Just give me the power. I’ve asked from the very day I got into office,” he said at the time. “Give me the Border Patrol, give me the people, the judges — give me the people who can stop this and make it work right.”
However, the president has changed his tune since public polling has consistently shown that he faces an uphill battle for re-election in November, with illegal immigration and enhanced border enforcement ranked as a top concern for voters.
The administration recently introduced new restrictions for asylum interviews taking place at the southern border to allow officers to quickly remove migrants who don’t have a “credible fear” of returning to their home country from the US.
“We’re examining whether or not I have that power,” Biden, 81, told Univision’s Enrique Acevedo last monthof another order reportedly under consideration that would raise the “credible fear standard” for asylum seekers.
The president had also mulled executive action to ban migrants from being granted asylum if they cross the border illegally between ports of entry — and remove others at designated entries when crossings met an unannounced threshold, Politico reported in February.
Meanwhile, congressional Democrats have shifted their own border messaging.
