President Biden is expected to sign an executive order on Tuesday allowing him to temporarily close the U.S. border with Mexico to migrants when crossings increase, a move that would suspend longstanding protections for asylum seekers in the United States.
Mr. Biden’s top aides briefed members of Congress in recent days about the upcoming action and told them to expect the president to sign the order alongside South Texas mayors, according to several people close to the project.
“I have been informed of the executive order that is pending,” said Representative Henry Cuellar, Democrat of Texas, who previously criticized Mr. Biden for not strengthening border controls earlier in his presidency. “I certainly support it because I have been advocating these measures for years. Although the order has not yet been released, I stand by the details provided to me thus far.
The order would represent the most restrictive border policy instituted by Mr. Biden, or any modern Democrat, echoing efforts in 2018 by President Donald J. Trump to block migration facilitated by Democrats and blocked by the courts federal.
Although the executive action is almost certain to face legal challenges, Mr. Biden is under intense political pressure to combat illegal migration, a major concern among voters as the election approaches. presidential election this year.
The move shows how immigration policy has tilted sharply to the right during Mr. Biden’s presidency. Polls suggest growing support, even within the president’s party, for the border measures that Democrats once denounced and Mr. Trump has defended.
The order would allow border authorities to prevent migrants from seeking asylum and quickly turn them away once border crossings exceed a certain threshold. Earlier this year, government officials discussed allowing Mr. Biden to close the border if there were an average of 5,000 border crossings per week, or 8,500 in a single day, but people involved in negotiations warned that the threshold was not finalized and could change. White House officials have focused on a trigger that would allow Mr. Biden to close the border.
On Sunday, border agents made more than 3,500 apprehensions of migrants crossing the border without authorization, according to a person with knowledge of the data. Sunday’s numbers were consistent with recent trends in southern border crossings.
The restrictions likely will not apply to minors crossing the border alone, according to an official briefed on the order.
The executive action will likely mirror a measure of a failed bipartisan bill from earlier this year that included some of the most sweeping border security restrictions considered by Congress in years. The bill would have provided billions of dollars to fund the border, including hiring thousands of asylum officers to process applications.
But Republicans rejected the bill in February, saying it was not strong enough. Many of them, encouraged by Mr. Trump, were reluctant to give Mr. Biden a legislative victory in an election year. Mr. Biden aides believe the executive order can give Democrats another data point to cite to explain to voters that they sought solutions at the border while Republicans were more focused on using that issue as a political question.
“While Republicans in Congress have chosen to oppose increased border enforcement, President Biden will not stop fighting to provide the resources border and immigration personnel need to secure our border,” he said. said Angelo Fernández Hernández, White House spokesperson, in a statement. Monday. He did not confirm those plans, but said the administration was exploring “a range of policy options and we remain committed to taking action to address our broken immigration system.”
Administration officials have said executive action is not their preference — and that they believe any order would face a legal challenge.
“Legislation is what we need,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas said last month.
“Executive action will be questioned,” he added. ” I’m convinced. And then the question will be what is the outcome of this procedure? Legislation is a safer solution.
In a sign of how much politics on the issue has changed, Mr. Biden, as a candidate in 2019, criticized Mr. Trump’s policies during a debate.
“This is the first president in the history of the United States of America that anyone seeking asylum must do so in another country,” Mr. Biden said at the time. “This has never happened before.”
“You come to the United States and you make your case,” he added. “That’s how you apply for asylum, based on the principle of why I deserve it under American law.”