Biden to Sign Order to Close Asylum Processing When Daily Illegal Crossings Average 2,500

President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on June 4 that will shut down asylum requests at the southern border once the average number of daily encounters between ports of entry exceeds 2,500 people, and will remain shut until that daily average stays below 1,500 for at least a week.

Senior administration officials confirmed the expected action, which is the Democratic president’s most aggressive unilateral move made during his nearly-completed term.

It will take effect immediately as the daily encounter numbers already exceed the order’s allowable limit, and it marks the latest of several recent moves by the administration to curb an immigration crisis that is seen as a key issue by many voters heading into November.

President Biden is expected to sign the executive order next to several lawmakers from communities along the Mexico–U.S. border.

The Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General will also jointly issue an interim final rule that will “generally restrict asylum eligibility during periods of elevated border encounters for those who cross the southern border unlawfully or without authorization.”

The action comes down as a proclamation under Immigration and Nationality Act sections 212(f) and 215(a) and will prohibit migrants who cross the southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum when, as one senior administration official said, “high levels of encounters at the southern border exceed our ability to deliver timely consequences.”

This is the same statute former President Donald Trump cited during his term. Senior administration officials separated themselves from the previous administration’s approach, saying that their actions, among other things, were only temporary, only applied to those entering unlawfully, were not based on religion, and were, overall, far more humane.

He said that the measures could go into effect when the average daily encounters of migrants between ports of entry along the southern border exceeds 2,500 for seven consecutive days, and they will remain in effect until 14 calendar days after the average number of daily encounters dropped below 1,500 for seven consecutive days.

However, significant exceptions to the restrictions still remain.

Those include migrants who “manifest or express a fear of return to their country” or a fear of prosecution or torture being referred to a “credible fear screening with an asylum officer” and unaccompanied minors.

This new rule also does not apply to those who use one of the “lawful pathways” to come into the United States, such as the CHNV asylum program, which officials confirmed brings in 30,000 people a month, and the CBP One app, which accounts for 1,400 people per day.

The official also noted that “The United States will continue to adhere to its international obligations and commitments by screening individuals who are found to be ineligible for asylum for withholding of removal and Convention Against Torture protection at a reasonable probability of persecution or torture standard.”

These new measures will also apply to migrants from China and other nations beyond the Western hemisphere and expressed confidence in their ability to “impose an immediate and fast consequence to migrants no matter what country they’re coming from.”

The executive order also comes after legislation failed to pass the House and the Senate that would have also ordered the suspension of asylum requests and the automatic denial of entrance to migrants once the daily crossings exceeded a certain number.

Senior administration officials blasted congressional Republicans for failing to act.

“At that point in time, people understood that immigration shouldn’t become a political football that we should put country over party,” one senior administration official said. “The reason we don’t have the bipartisan bill today is very simple. Because the other administration, the prior administration’s person, said, ‘Don’t do it. Don’t give Joe Biden a victory.’

“That’s not how we should run a country. And so that is unfortunate. An election year should not prohibit us from getting the people’s work done.”

However, those against the legislation shared their opposition. Rep. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) stated in a post on X that he was voting against the bill because, among other things, it “grants citizenship to illegal immigrants” and codifies both the “catch-and-release” program and “illegal entry via phone app.”

Mr. Schmitt also said that the bill “eviscerates [the] power of future presidents to secure [the] border by establishing a new MINIMUM number of illegal immigrants who must be admitted each day,” and it would make “invasion level migration permanent.”

President Biden ended several of former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies on day one, including the “stay in Mexico” policy. Most migrants, including families, are then released into the United States while awaiting their asylum claim to be processed, which can take years. There are more than 2 million pending immigration court cases.

Savannah Hulsey Pointer and The Associated Press contributed to this report.