(Breitbart) The much-touted emergency border “shutdown” in the establishment’s Border Act will not be activated unless the president’s homeland security says so, says a clause buried deep in the 280-page bill.
The legal loophole can be seen on page 119:
The loophole converts the supposedly “mandatory” border shutdown into a conditional presidential policy option — that can only be activated when there are many more migrants than during the border emergency declared by President Donald Trump during his first term.
By raising the required numbers, and adding multiple exemptions, the legislation makes it far more difficult for a president to declare a border shutdown — which is the reverse of much media coverage during the last few days.
“This RINO-Dem immigration deal is really a mass amnesty that essentially locks in 2 million illegals per year,” said a tweet by Donald Trump Jr.
President Joe Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas arrive for a briefing on Sept. 29, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Advocates for the pro-migration legislation are touting the shutdown trigger because it is a dramatic phrase for President Joe Biden and journalists to broadcast and because it is what most Americans want.
“It would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed,” Biden declared on January 26. “And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law.”
But the details of the legislation show that the “mandatory” trigger will rarely be pulled, discounts many migrants, will expire in three years, and will have no impact because the law also creates an entirely new fast-track, rubber-stamp asylum process that can put millions of economic migrants on a rapid “path to citizenship” and into voting booths by 2030.
The much-touted legislation declares on page 122:
(3) ACTIVATIONS OF AUTHORITY.—
‘‘(A) DISCRETIONARY ACTIVATION.—The Secretary may activate the border emergency authority if, during a period of 7 consecutive calendar days, there is an average of 4,000 or more aliens who are encountered each day.
(B) MANDATORY [emphasis added] ACTIVATION.—The Secretary shall activate the border emergency authority if—
‘‘(i) during a period of 7 consecutive calendar days, there is an average of 5,000 or more aliens who are encountered each day; or
‘‘(ii) on any 1 calendar day, a combined total of 8,500 or more aliens are encountered.
But on page 117, the text lists exceptions to the “mandatory” trigger, including a catch-all — “a process approved by the Secretary” exemption:
(C) An unaccompanied alien child.
(D) An alien who an immigration officer determines, with the approval of a supervisory immigration officer, should be excepted from the border emergency authority based on the totality of the circumstances …
(F) An alien who has a valid visa or other lawful permission to enter the United States, including— … (iv) an alien who presents at a port of entry pursuant to a process approved by the Secretary to allow for safe and orderly entry into the United States.
Section (F) would exempt the “parole” migrants that Biden’s deputies are importing despite the existing laws.
In 2023, Biden’s deputies imported one million parole migrants who would not be covered by the border shutdown.
Biden has also imported more than 500,000 “Unaccompanied Alien Children” who would not be covered by the shutdown trigger.
Asylum seekers walk along the U.S.-Mexico border barrier on their way to be processed by U.S. Border Patrol agents on November 30, 2023, in San Diego, California. (Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images)
