Biden weighs invoking executive authority to stage border crackdown ahead of 2024 election [View all]
Source: CBS News
Updated on: February 21, 2024 / 8:45 PM EST
Washington — President Biden is debating whether to invoke a sweeping presidential authority that gained infamy during the Trump administration to stage a crackdown on migrants coming to the U.S. southern border, three people familiar with the plans told CBS News.
Mr. Biden is weighing citing a law dating back to 1952 to severely restrict access to the U.S. asylum system, which has buckled under the weight of record levels of migrant arrivals along the border with Mexico, the sources said, requesting anonymity to discuss internal government deliberations.
That law, known as 212(f), allows the president to "suspend the entry" of foreigners when it is determined their arrival is not in the best interest of the country. The Trump administration used the law several times, including to ban immigration and travel from certain countries, most of them predominantly Muslim, and to bar migrants from asylum if they entered the country unlawfully.
If approved, Mr. Biden's executive action could be announced within the next two weeks, the sources said. An administration official said no final decisions had been made on whether the president would take executive action to address the situation at U.S.-Mexico border, where migrants have been arriving in greater numbers than ever before in American history. Any significant restriction on asylum would face formidable legal and operational hurdles.
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-weighs-invoking-executive-authority-stage-border-crackdown-212f/
Heard this on the radio (CBS affiliate) this morning.
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