Former president and presumptive Republican nominee is currently on a fundraising tour in California, aiming to bolster his campaign finances following a period of significant fundraising success. This surge came after he was found guilty last week, with his campaign amassing nearly $53 million within 24 hours. In May, his campaign reported raising $141 million, making significant strides in competing with the incumbent president’s campaign, which has led in fundraising for several months. The former president is now intensifying his efforts to engage with major donors to further support his presidential campaign.
Illegal immigration has emerged as the main presidential race topic, prompting Biden to finally take action to combat people illegally entering the country. On Tuesday, he announced plans to impose immediate and stringent asylum restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border, an attempt by the White House to mitigate the political fallout from immigration issues before the November elections. This move, criticized by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson as a “too little, too late” effort by President Biden, has faced harsh criticism from the public and Republican senators, who have accused the president of neglecting the migrant crisis for over three years
Florida Senator Marco Rubio, using the platform X, previously Twitter, described President Biden’s new executive order as joke. Similarly, Texas Representative Greg Casar has voiced concerns, stating that the initiative won’t effectively decrease illegal border crossings. The order is set to be implemented once the average of daily border encounters outside of official entry points reaches 2,500, a condition which is already met, ensuring the order’s immediate activation. This level of border encounters hasn’t been seen since the early days of Biden’s administration.
Biden under fire
Before the news was officially released, Donald Trump’s campaign, which is expected to secure the Republican nomination again, sharply criticized President Biden’s decision, calling it a “radical” executive move towards migrant amnesty. They contended that the administration’s aggressive measure to offer amnesty to migrants isn’t genuinely aimed at enhancing southern border security. Rather, they argue, it intends to release illegal migrants ‘quicker than usual’.
“Let’s be clear — Joe Biden’s Executive Order is for amnesty, not border security,” Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, which was followed up by a second campaign statement and a Trump-Republican National Committee press call on Biden’s “mass amnesty.”
“After importing more than 15 million illegal aliens into our country and releasing countless criminal migrants who have brutally raped and murdered our citizens, this new order will facilitate the release of more illegals as quickly as possible,” Trump’s campaign added.
Commenting the executive order
Initially hinted at in January, the policy has disappointed progressives. At that time, President Biden discussed his administration’s exploration of measures to “shut down” the border. On Tuesday, he announced that he would prevent migrants from seeking asylum at entry ports if daily crossings reach 2,500. Texas Representative Jodey Arrington believes this move shows that Biden has been slow to use his authority to tackle illegal immigration effectively.
“We now know he has the authority. He’s admitting it,” he said to NOTUS.
“He’s trying to desperately show the American people that he wants to address the issue that he himself created,” Speaker Johnson said on Sunday two days before Biden announced the executive order. “We documented 64 specific actions that President Biden and Secretary [Alejandro Mayorkas] at [the Department of Homeland Security] took over … the course of three and a half years, beginning on the first day that President Biden [took office], to open the border. They did it intentionally; it’s had catastrophic effects upon our country that we’ll be living with for decades to come.”
What happens now
Once in effect, this order will result in the rapid deportation of migrants who arrive at the border without claiming fear of returning to their home countries. This could occur within hours or days. These individuals may also be subject to penalties such as a five-year ban on re-entry to the U.S. or potential criminal charges.
Conversely, migrants who do express fear or a wish to seek asylum will face a more rigorous evaluation by a U.S. asylum officer than previously. If they pass this initial screening, they will be eligible to apply for more limited forms of humanitarian aid, like protections offered by the U.N. Convention Against Torture.
