(RepublicanNews.org) – While Congress continues to debate a border security bill both sides can all agree on, President Joe Biden and his administration are considering a unilateral action bypassing lawmakers in order to make it more difficult for immigrants seeking asylum to pass the screening process at the southern border.
Aside from making the asylum screening process more rigorous, the executive action would also send recent arrivals back over the border if they fail to meet the new criteria, according to U.S. officials. Although such actions would take weeks to finalize, it seems the Biden administration is scrambling to put a cap on the influx of illegal crossings ahead of the 2024 presidential election as the average voter grows more frustrated by the situation. In fact, the border may be the deciding issue come November.
The new policy would specifically require asylum processing officers to raise screening standards while conducting “credible fear interviews,” which is the first screening given to immigrants seeking asylum who crossed into the U.S. illegally and wish to avoid deportation. The officials also said there would be a policy of “last in, first out,” meaning that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would be instructed to prioritize deporting recent arrivals over those who’ve been in the U.S. longer.
One congressional aide who claimed to be in the know about the administration’s deliberations said that the idea is being floated but no decision has been made yet. The three officials who spoke with reporters also said that it’s not clear how the administration would implement the new policies, which could be done either by new federal regulations or an executive order, and that the changes could take a few months to put into place.
The news comes after a bipartisan bill, which the White House claimed was the “fairest” seen “in decades,” was blocked by Senate Republicans. The GOP was dissatisfied with the reforms proposed, which did not technically close the border and were also tacked onto a foreign aid spending package, which they initially agreed to before backing out. The Senate went ahead and passed the foreign aid package without the border security provisions included.
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