(RepublicanView.org) – Alejandro Mayorkas, who serves as President Joe Biden’s US homeland security secretary, is defending the administration’s immigration executive order as it takes heat from both the left and right.
The order requires immigration officials to stop accepting all requests for asylum after officials report an average encounter rate of 2,500 at lawful ports of entry. It permits the border to reopen after two weeks after seven straight days that average fewer than 1,500 encounters.
Encounters have reportedly not fallen below 1,500 during Biden’s entire presidency. Mayorkas has not announced whether he and his department expect those numbers to fall before the presidential elections in November. He has also not provided a timeline for the threshold being reached, noting that it’s still in the early stages.
Some Democrats claim the order revives a ban instituted by former president Donald Trump on asylums. Trump used his ban in an effort to address illegal immigration, but it was stopped by federal judges. Biden himself criticized Trump’s order while campaigning against him for the presidency.
Republicans said the order isn’t enough to stop the surge of immigrants. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell recently said it’s “too little, too late.” Other Republicans have claimed it was just a campaign stunt.
However, Mayorkas said the timing was essential four months after a separate border bill, which was tied to foreign funding, failed. He also said that the administration would have preferred for Congress to take action while insisting that it’s consistent with Biden’s campaign promises.
Both Democratic and Republican congressional representatives signed a letter condemning the Biden administration’s border policies earlier this year. They demanded an immediate reversal of those policies and stressed the importance of border security. Border patrol agents have reported being overwhelmed by the influx of migrants since Biden took office.
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