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US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas defended both the timing and the content of the Joe Bidenthe new executive order to limit immigration along the southern border, as the president faces criticism from both Democrats and Republicans over the measure.
This is according to the order issued on Tuesday employees to close asylum applications after the average number of encounters between legal ports of entry reaches 2,500 or more. If the number of encounters falls to 1,500 or less for seven consecutive days, the border will reopen two weeks later.
During an interview on ABC News’ This Week, anchor Martha Radatz noted that the passes have never reached that threshold — and Mayorkas declined to say whether she expects that to happen before Election Day.
Mayorkas declined to give a specific timetable for when border crossings are expected to reach the target threshold. Mayorkas was impeached by House Republicans earlier this year over his border management, but accusations quickly released by the Senate.
“We are at a very early stage. The implementation, as you noted, has just begun,” Mayorkas told Raddatz on Sunday. “It’s early, the signs are positive. Our staff have done an incredible job in bringing about a very big change in the way we operate on the southern border.”
Some Democrats have violated the order essentially reviving the Trump administration’s asylum ban that was struck down by federal courts. Biden also criticized the measure when he was running for president.
Trump is fighting tooth and nail to deny those fleeing dangerous situations their right to seek asylum in our nation. We must uphold our moral responsibility and enforce our immigration laws with dignity – not turn away those fleeing violence, war and poverty. https://t.co/1CVPP3sJo3
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 26, 2019
Mayorkas insisted Sunday that the executive order did not contradict Biden’s campaign promise.
“What the president said then is what we live in today,” he said. “We are allowing individuals to access asylum through ports of entry under a program that we have developed. We allow people to get asylum if they come from countries like Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Republicans dismissed the policy as insufficient and an election-year gimmick. “It’s like turning on a garden hose on a five-alarm fire. And the American people are not stupid. They know this play is too little, too late,” Mitch McConnell, the leader of the U.S. Senate Republicans, said last week. But the Republican criticism comes after Republican senators twice blocked a comprehensive bipartisan border security bill. Trump, who is the presumptive Republican nominee in November’s presidential election, lobbied against the measure.
Mayorkas defended the timing of the executive order, which came four months after the border bill’s first failure. He said the administration would prefer that Congress act.
“The bipartisan deal was rejected once. We moved forward again. He was rejected a second time. And then we developed that and implemented it and we’re at an early stage,” he said. “And let’s not downplay the importance of this move and the importance of putting it into action. And that requires the cooperation of other countries, which we have secured.
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