President Joe Biden is imploring Congress to pass the Senate‘s bipartisan national security agreement, promising to “shut down” the border the day after it becomes law.
“It would give me, as president, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed,” Biden wrote Sunday in a statement. “It will make our asylum process fairer and more efficient, while protecting the most vulnerable.”
“It will expedite work permits so that those who are here and qualify can get to work more quickly,” he added. “It will create more opportunities for families to come together – through short-term visits, as well as increased permanent lawful pathways. It ensures the most vulnerable, unaccompanied young children, have paid legal representation. And it will provide the resources I have repeatedly requested to secure the border by adding Border Patrol agents, immigration judges, asylum officers, and cutting-edge inspection machines to help detect and stop the flow of fentanyl.”
Biden conceded “there is more work to be done” to “get” the agreement, which would also supply funding for Ukraine‘s defense against Russia‘s invasion, as well as for Israel and Palestinians amid the former’s war against Hamas, “over the finish line.”
“If you believe, as I do, that we must secure the border now, doing nothing is not an option,” he said. “House Republicans have to decide. Do they want to solve the problem? Or do they want to keep playing politics with the border? I’ve made my decision. I’m ready to solve the problem. I’m ready to secure the border. And so are the American people.”
In a press briefing Sunday evening, senior administration officials underscored the importance of the temporary emergency presidential authority, which would empower Biden to prevent individuals from seeking asylum when illegal immigrant encounters at the border “reach elevated levels.”
“The authority preserves access to other protections consistent with our international obligations and will sunset after three years,” one administration official said. “Additionally, the authority is limited to a set number of days each calendar year and, in the third year of implementation, it may only be exercised for half the year.”
Describing the southwest border as currently being “overwhelmed,” Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas would rely on the emergency authority “immediately,” according to the official.
“When the emergency authority is being implemented at the border, individuals who are encountered will not be generally eligible for asylum,” the source said. “Legislation will require a manifestation of fear standard, and the individuals who manifest a fear would be processed for a fast interview to determine whether they have a fear of persecution or torture, such that they cannot be removed.”
“When we are exercising the emergency authority, the legislation requires that 1,400 individuals be processed through our land border ports of entry in a safe and orderly means,” he added.
With House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) vowing to kill the bill in the House, the likelihood that it becomes law is low. A second administration official did not directly respond to a question regarding whether Biden planned to appeal to Johnson, only saying that “the president speaks regularly with members of Congress from both parties.”
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“You have heard from President Biden, we must act,” the official said in reply to a similar inquiry. “Speaker Johnson and House Republicans should provide the administration with the policy changes and resources that we are requesting to secure the border.”
“This is a bipartisan piece of legislation that represents real solutions that have been negotiated over months by Senate negotiators, and there’s no reason that Congress should not pass this legislation to support national security priorities like they have many times before,” the official continued.
