The Biden administration issued a set of executive actions that would temporarily suspend entry for noncitizens if the southern border sees a certain number of illegal crossers in a seven-day period.
The long-awaited action of course comes just months before the 2024 election and implements rules that would still likely total a higher number of encounters at the southwest land border than in any year under President Trump.
“These actions will be in effect when the southern border is overwhelmed, and they will make it easier for immigration officers to quickly remove individuals who do not have a legal basis to remain in the United States,” the White House said in a press release.
If the average number of border encounters exceeds 2,500 in a seven-day period, entry to noncitizens would be suspended until 14 days after a seven-day average of 1,500 border encounters.
‘These actions are not permanent.’
According to Fox News, in the 24 hours before the White House’s declaration, the border saw 5,200 encounters and has averaged 5,000 per day for a week.
Per U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, the 30-day average from April 2024 was 5,990 encounters per day.
Under Biden’s new rules, if the border saw 2,499 daily encounters (right below the threshold), without any suspensions, that would total over 912,000 encounters in a year. That number, while significantly lower than any figure achieved by the Biden administration, would still be higher than any year under President Trump.
The Biden order does not apply to visa holders, unaccompanied children, those with a medical emergency or imminent threat to their life, or victims of a “severe form” of trafficking. It also does not apply to those who use the CBP One app, which is used by about 1,500 people per day.
For fiscal year 2024 the Biden administration is averaging 217,214 southwest land border encounters per month. That means the estimated total for FY 2024 is over 2.6 million, which would be another record-setting year for the Biden administration, which saw 2.475 million in FY 2023 and 2.3 million in FY 2022.
For comparison, the border was seeing between 70,000 and 80,000 encounters per month when Biden first took office. That number quickly exploded in the first six months of his presidency.
“These actions are not permanent. They will be discontinued when the number of migrants who cross the border between ports of entry is low enough for America’s system to safely and effectively manage border operations,” the Biden administration wrote.
The White House boasted that the Department of State has imposed visa restrictions on several Colombian transportation companies that have been profiting from smuggling migrants.
The administration’s press release also said that the Department of Homeland Security has removed or returned more than 750,000 people, which it said was more than in every fiscal year since 2010.
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Border, Biden, Us mexico border, Border wall, Election, National security, Politics
