Why Biden's action on border security is getting panned on the right and left in Arizona
President Joe Biden's announcement on Tuesday that he is taking action to restrict access to asylum along the U.S.-Mexico border was met mostly with contempt — and some support — from Democrats, Republicans and migrants advocates.
The executive action allows the U.S. Border Patrol to shut down all asylum processing under sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, when the number of migrant crossings in between the ports of entry exceeds 2,500 per day over a seven-day period.
Processing would resume when the number of migrant crossings falls below 1,500 per day over a seven-day period. The order would not impact asylum processing at legal border crossings.
"Frankly, I would've preferred to address this issue through bipartisan legislation because that's the only way to have the kind of system that we have now that is broken fixed," Biden said from the White House, blaming Republicans for backing away in February from a bipartisan border agreement.
The language in Biden's action essentially guarantees an immediate shutdown of all asylum processing between border crossings seven days from when the order takes effect in Arizona at 9:01 p.m. on Tuesday. Already, legal and migrant advocacy groups have vowed to sue, claiming this policy is a rehash of a previous Trump-era asylum ban struck down by U.S. courts.
“We intend to challenge this order in court. It was illegal when (former President Donald) Trump did it, and it is no less illegal now,” said Lee Gelernt, the deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Immigrants’ Rights Project.
Biden was flanked by the mayors and commissioners of border communities on Tuesday as he issued his proclamation. The attendees included Manuel Ruiz, chair of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors. Other Arizona border mayors, including those from Yuma and San Luis, declined to attend.
Sen. Mark Kelly and Rep. Greg Stanton joined Biden from White House
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. and Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., were also at Tuesday's announcement from the White House.
They welcomed Biden's executive action at the border.
Kelly called the order a step forward to address urgent needs at the border, adding that it would help relieve the work of overwhelmed Border Patrol agents and nonprofits in southern Arizona providing humanitarian assistance to migrants.
"But make no mistake, this is only necessary because Congress has failed to do its duty to help fix the border and there is no substitute for that," Kelly said in a written statement. "The Senate has twice had the opportunity to take up an agreement negotiated by Republicans and Democrats to invest in more Border Patrol agents, technology and personnel to stop fentanyl, officers to quickly screen asylum claims, and other lasting solutions, but both times my Republican colleagues walked away."
The agreement Kelly mentioned included a similar provision to Tuesday's executive action. But the border deal, negotiated in part by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., set the threshold to shut down asylum processing between ports of entry to at least 4,500 migrant crossing per day.
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Sinema expressed some skepticism about what Biden's proclamation would achieve along the U.S.-Mexico border.
"While it remains to be seen if this attempt will successfully address the crisis Arizona faces every day, it’s important to remember that executive actions are not substitutes for legislation. Congress must realistically solve the border crisis," she said Tuesday.
“This executive order will take immediate steps to reduce the burden on law enforcement, our under-resourced immigration system, nonprofits and border communities in Arizona," Stanton added.
While the proclamation had been expected for several days, Tuesday's unveiling of the details were nevertheless panned in Arizona by migrant advocacy groups, Republicans who are uniformly skeptical of Biden's border policies, and some Democrats who say Biden has gone too far.
Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., a U.S. Senate candidate whose positions on border security have gotten harder over the past couple of years, was among the few additional voices backing Biden's proclamation.
But he said more still needed to be done.
"We also need to hire more Border Patrol agents, fix our broken asylum system, and keep our communities safe — solutions put forward in the legislation I introduced just weeks ago. That’s what Arizonans deserve," Gallego's statement read.
Republicans question timing of Biden's proclamation
Republican Kari Lake, Gallego's expected challenger in the Arizona Senate race, slammed both Gallego and Biden over Tuesday's announcement. Her campaign released a statement saying the order is years too late and politically motivated to boost Democrats during an election year.
"Arizonans will remember that Biden and Gallego are the ones who created this humanitarian and national security crisis in the first place," the Lake statement said. "We had the safest border in decades under President Trump and the only way we can return to that is by returning President Trump to the White House and gaining a majority in the U.S. Senate by electing Kari Lake."
Other Republicans in Arizona were equally critical of Biden's executive action. Freshman Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., cited nativist rhetoric of an ongoing "invasion" in questioning the timing of the proclamation, five months before the presidential elections.
"This just proves the Biden Admin has been lying all along by saying that they can’t take executive action to secure the border. Funny how things change with an election right around the corner…," Crane said on X, formerly Twitter.
Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., said on X that Tuesday's announcement was politically motivated and was "too little, too late & do nothing 2 stop the asylum abuse, do not end catch-and-release."
Outgoing Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., said she was happy to see Biden recognize the seriousness of the situation at the border, but warned that it was too early to see what impact the order would have.
"Talk is cheap and we have seen that this president has been continually unwilling to fix the critical problems he created. In fact, far from taking steps to secure the border, President Biden has empowered the cartels and encouraged lawlessness at every level throughout his term in office," she said in a statement.
Widespread opposition from advocates, progressive Dems
Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., the dean of Arizona's congressional delegation, also criticized Biden's proclamation restricting access to asylum. He joined other progressive voices who felt Biden was appeasing the Republicans who refused to work on bipartisan solutions and turning his back on past promises to restore humanity to the immigration system.
“This executive action represents a significant departure from President Biden’s promise of a more humane and just approach to immigration," Grijalva said. "It tramples on the universal right to claim asylum and prevents migrants from attempting to legally access safety and security in the United States. It is ripe for legal challenges and antithetical to our values."
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The proclamation received near-total opposition from migrant and legal advocacy groups around the United States and in Arizona. They accused Biden of ignoring the lessons from previous asylum bans and restrictions, including the harm that it could cause people who are legitimately seeking protection in the country.
Laura St. John, the legal director for the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project in Arizona, said the announcement was "disgraceful" and would result in more families getting separated or putting the lives of asylum seekers in danger.
“Enacting an on-off expulsion policy like this will do nothing to address the significant challenges we face at the border," she said. "Generally, deterrence policies do not work because people seeking asylum don’t have any other options when seeking protection from life-threatening persecution, but this so-called solution will be particularly ineffective because the status of asylum processing at the border will change with little-to-no notice."
St. John argued the move would instead benefit cartels and smuggling organizations who would thrive under arbitrary restrictions that will create confusion and instability at the border.
Have any news tips or story ideas about immigration in the Southwest? Reach the reporter at [email protected], or follow him on X (formerly Twitter): @RafaelCarranza.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Biden's executive action on the border draws mixed response in Arizona
