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An asylum seeker walks to an appointment for an asylum interview with U.S. authorities at the El Chaparral checkpoint in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, May 18, 2024.
CNN
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The Biden administration is preparing to implement comprehensive executive action on the border as early as Tuesday, according to two sources familiar with the discussions, but cautioned that the timing is fluid.
White House officials have begun lobbying mayors of cities along the southern U.S. border to join President Joe Biden as he announces executive orders, two other sources familiar with the conversations said.
Administration officials have been considering an executive order for weeks that would significantly limit migrants’ ability to claim asylum at the U.S. southern border, part of a strategy to give Biden an edge on one of his Republican rivals’ key campaign pledges. The measure is aimed at blunting Republican attacks on border security and preemptively striking former President Donald Trump ahead of the first presidential debate, which will be held on CNN on June 27.
Edinburg Mayor Ramiro Garza confirmed to CNN that the administration had contacted him on Saturday about attending an event at the White House on Tuesday.
The order is expected to be reminiscent of a controversial measure from the Trump administration that would have used authority known as Section 212f between ports of entry to crack down on illegal border crossings.
CNN previously reported that officials were considering announcing the order after Mexico’s election on Sunday and before the first presidential debate. Biden is scheduled to visit France on Wednesday.
“While Republicans in Congress stand in the way of increased border security, President Biden will not stop fighting to provide Border Patrol and immigration agents with the resources they need to secure our border,” a White House spokesman said in a statement. “As we have said before, the administration continues to consider a range of policy options and remains committed to taking action to address our dysfunctional immigration system.”
Several Texas mayors have expressed frustration with the extreme polarization over immigration amid rising tensions between Biden and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Biden met with Garza, Brownsville Mayor Jon Cowen, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Weslaco Mayor Adrian Gonzalez during a visit to the southern U.S. border in February.
A White House official told CNN that no final decisions have been made about additional executive orders.
Border apprehensions have fallen this year after Mexico stepped up its own crackdown in January, and the White House is seeking to take advantage of temporary relief from one of the most politically thorny issues Biden faces in his reelection campaign.
Some Democrats in Congress have also urged White House officials to consider having the president return to the border in the coming weeks, though a White House spokesman previously told CNN that a visit to the border by Biden was not currently being considered.
The administration has announced a series of policy changes in recent weeks in an effort to discourage migrants from traveling to the United States and convince skeptical voters that it is working to tighten immigration controls at the border.
This includes imposing new guidelines and regulations to tighten the immigration system, quickly rejecting migrants who do not qualify for asylum and speeding up the cases of some migrants – measures that Biden administration officials hope will keep the number of migrants crossing the border low.
This story has been updated with new reporting.
