Republicans call Biden’s border crackdown a ‘political stunt’, while the Dem Texas mayor claims it is months too late

Victor Nava, Jennie Taer

04/06/2024

The President Biden will announce an executive order on Tuesday that will allow him shut down the US Mexico border when migrant crossings exceed a certain amount per day. However, critics said Monday that this is too little too late.

According to the Associated Press, the order will bar border-crossers who are illegally crossing the border from claiming asylum if the number of migrants they encounter between ports of entry reaches a daily average of 2,500 in a given week.

The border will reopen once the number of encounters drops to 1,500 per a day.

Biden, who is 81 years old, has been considering executive action at the border, since February. This, despite the fact that congressional Republicans insist that he had always held this power.

The President is expected to sign this order during a White House event on Tuesday, with a few border city mayors at his side.

Eagle Pass, Texas Mayor Rolando Salinas told The Post that he had not been invited to the White House event, despite being a strong supporter of “any measures that prevent and limit the amount of people coming into the city illegally.”

He said, “I wish it had been done in December when our city was hit by 2,000 to 3,000 people every day.” “We will never forget those days.”

In December 2023, law enforcement officials encountered more than 375,000 people trying to cross the US/Mexico border. This was the highest monthly total ever recorded.

Border Patrol sources told The Post on Monday that they had not been informed of Biden’s plan and were unaware of its details.

The White House didn’t immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) Biden’s executive order, according to Banks, will not be enough to stop the flood.

Banks, writing on X, said: “Don’t let Biden’s latest border move fool you. It’s nothing but a political stunt.”

The GOP legislator added. “Remember that he has already allowed in over 10,000,000 illegal aliens and his new executive orders will likely result in at least 1,5 million more illegal crossings within the next year.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. Also, the speaker accused the commander-in-chief of trying to fool voters in advance of his possible November run against former President Donald Trump.

The House Speaker wrote: “President Biden engineered a wide open southern border, and now he is trying to convince Americans that he will address the chaos he has created.”

The American people know better. Johnson continued, “He intentionally created this crisis. An executive order will not change that.”

The border could be shut down immediately under the new restrictions as the daily migrant encounters are currently above the 2,500 threshold.

US Customs and Border Protection met nearly 6,000 migrants a day in April, the latest month for which statistics are officially available.

CBP data show that since Biden’s election in 2021 more than 7 million migrants were apprehended along the southern border by US Customs and Border Protection. This includes over 1.9 million during the current fiscal, which ends on Sept. 30, 2019.