The left and the right have found common territory in a sharply divided country. Both sectors of the political spectrum have directed a barrage of criticism at President Joe Biden after he released an executive order on immigration control. This restricts asylum to the country and closes the southern border when irregular crossings exceed 2,500 daily encounters over the course of a week. Some members of the Democratic party have criticized the president for following in Donald Trump’s footsteps in the electoral campaign, while Republicans question the effectiveness of the measure, pointing out that it comes too late.
Biden’s management on the southern border of the United States is disapproved of by 62% of Americans. The order is perhaps aimed at centrist voters who have expressed concern about what has happened in the Administration. But the criticism has not only been political. Institutions have shown their caution regarding the measure, which damages one of the most important pillars of the country. The United Nations Refugee Agency has shown its “deep concern” about Biden’s decision. “The new measures will deny access to many individuals in need of international protection and who will now be left without an option to find safety,” UNHCR said.
The Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) has qualified the executive order of being an “unnecessary, punitive and highly politicized” decision. “Turning to the right to reassure those who have opposed any type of migration to the United States is wrong. We have been and must always be a beacon of hope for those who seek protection for themselves and their families,” said Angélica Salas, the director of the organization, one of the largest in the country.
The decision taken by Biden has been widely criticized by human rights defenders and activists focused on migration. This Tuesday, 46 organizations signed a joint letter repudiating the measure. Some of these supported the president’s arrival at the White House as a form of contrast to the draconian border policies implemented by the Donald Trump Administration. The turn has been interpreted as a return to policies that have already been used and not in the construction of a better system, which is one of the promises that brought the Democrat to the presidency. Some organizations have threatened to take the order, in force since the first minute of this Wednesday, to court.
“Biden campaigned in 2020 on the idea of rebuilding the asylum system and promoting more humane policies, but in reality he has dehumanized and criminalized migrants in his attempt to score political points,” says Erika Pinheiro, director of Al Otro Lado. The organization, which has a lot of experience on the border, assures that the measure will force those who wish to reach the United States to explore more dangerous routes where they will put their lives at even greater risk.
Al Otro Lado also criticizes the “arbitrary” figure it imposed to close the border. And he rules out that this number, 2,500 arrests daily for a week, has to do with the capacity to process detainees. This figure actually leads to closing the border, as happened while Title 42 was in effect during the pandemic, as it is a figure that has not been recorded since 2021. Yesterday alone the Border Patrol counted 4,300 irregular crossings between entry points.
Biden received friendly fire from his party colleagues. Senator Chris Murphy, who was key in negotiating a failed bipartisan bill that would reinforce the border, said he welcomed the decision. He doubted, however, that the Executive Branch had the power to stop the asylum process entirely on its own.
Sectors on the left within the Democratic Party have openly criticized the president for imitating Trump. “This asylum veto will fail to address the challenges of our border, as happened in the last Administration,” said Alex Padilla, the only Latino senator California has ever had.
Republican candidates, who seek to be elected in November with tough rhetoric on irregular immigration, have rejected the measure. Trumpist Kari Lake, a former television host seeking to reach the Senate in Arizona, assures that voters should not forget that this “humanitarian and national security crisis” was created by Biden. “With Trump we had the most secure border in decades and the only way we can get back to that is by putting Trump in the White House,” she said in a statement addressed to his supporters in vital territory.
Democrat Mark Kelly, the other senator from Arizona, was at the White House this Tuesday to accompany Biden in the promulgation of the decree. “It is a very good step to resolve the security part of the border,” the legislator assured the media. Some congressmen from the president’s party have reluctantly supported the measure, seeing it as the only tangible action after Republicans in Congress have twice rejected a bill that would give more resources to the Border Patrol.
The most radical politicians on the right have been demanding that Biden act to stop illegal migration for years. But they are not happy either. Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, has called it “a smokescreen” for the failure of her policies. “For three years, the president has lied about the existence of a crisis at the border, blaming Congress, and now he contradicts himself with an irresponsible executive order issued months before the election,” Abbott said.
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