President Biden Issues Executive Order to Address Border Security

Maggio Kattar

In light of stalled progress on a bipartisan bill to strengthen U.S. land and costal borders, the Biden Administration issued an Executive Order titled “Proclamation on Securing the Border” on June 4, 2024. This order aims to limit the number of asylum seekers entering the U.S. and closes the border to undocumented migrants when the seven-day average of daily encounters at the southwest land and coastal borders exceeds 2,500. Based on current data, this executive order has effectively closed the border immediately upon its issuance.

Key Provisions of the Executive Order Include Exceptions For:

  1. Noncitizens who use an approved process, such as the CBP One mobile app, to enter the United States at a port of entry in a safe and orderly manner or pursue another lawful pathway.
  2. Unaccompanied minors.
  3. Migrants with a credible imminent and extreme threat to life or safety.
  4. Migrants (or family members they are traveling with) with an acute medical emergency.
  5. Victims of human trafficking.

During these closures, expedited deportations of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela will be received by Mexico. However, the necessary additional resources to ensure swift deportation or detention of migrants are lacking due to the inability of the U.S. House and Senate to agree on increasing resources for border security. This is compounded by labor shortages in critical positions at all levels needed for quick determinations on asylum claims.

This new measure seeks to “quickly return those without lawful basis to stay in the U.S. and thereby free up the asylum system for those with legitimate claims.” Migrants with credible asylum claims, or other legal immigration pathways, are granted U.S. work authorization. This permits them to eligible to earn taxable wages, by filling a wide range of positions in critical U.S.  infrastructure industries such as construction, healthcare, and agriculture, which are currently experiencing severe labor shortages, thereby helping to support and strengthen the U.S. economy.

However, lawsuits are expected to attempt to block enforcement of this order.  We will post updates as they occur.