President Joe Biden announced an executive order this week that he claims will “help us to gain control of our border, restore order to the process” by banning migrants from seeking asylum if they cross the border illegally. At first glance, this seems like a welcome move to reduce a major pull factor for illegal crossings, even if it flies in the face of Biden’s claim in January that he had “done all I can do” on the border.
As always, though, the devil is in the details. First, the limitations on asylum seekers only kick in once illegal crossings exceed 2,500 per day, which is nearly 1 million per year. As Ammon Blair, a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation told me, Biden is going to “meter the invasion.”
As you read further, the executive order contains all kinds of loopholes that render it effectively useless, even during the emergency scenario.
Unaccompanied minors are exempt from the restrictions on asylum, so families will be incentivized to send their children into the United States alone and they will be trafficked across the border. Cartels will also take advantage of the unaccompanied minor exemption by telling illegal migrants to ditch their documents before they get to the border or by creating false documents that state migrants are under the age of eighteen.
Illegal aliens may also claim asylum between ports of entry if there are victims of “severe trafficking,” which is defined as being induced by force, fraud or coercion into providing sexual acts or labor services. As the cartel has effective control of the southern border, this applies to practically every single person who crosses into the United States illegally. Women pay for safe passage with sex, while men pay with labor. “Nobody crosses without paying the cartels,” senior border patrol agent John Modlin testified to Congress in 2023.
The order prohibits border patrol agents from asking credible fear questions to illegal crossers, but these individuals may still invoke an asylum claim to avoid or get temporary relief from an expedited removal. Conveniently, detention centers that house candidates for expedited removal must contain signage explaining to these detainees how to “claim a fear of return or an intention to seek asylum or related protection.”
Finally, the DHS secretary may override the asylum restrictions laid out because the memo specifies that he can allow any illegal to enter for “humanitarian” reasons.
This is all not withstanding the fact that asylum restrictions have nothing to do with the 30,000 people per month let in via Biden’s parole program, nor the thousands weekly who enter the US through the CBP One app program, which merely gives migrants a later date for an asylum screening and gives them the opportunity to get a work permit.
Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren chastised Biden for his executive order, describing it as a “functional ban on asylum,” to which immigration restrictionists might reply, “If only!”
-Amber Duke
On our radar
MANY (CONGRESS)MEN Curtis Jackson, or the rapper better known as 50 Cent, made on appearance on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to talk with lawmakers about increasing minority representation in the liquor industry. Jackson owns the Sire Spirits brand, which produces popular bottles of cognac and champagne.
‘GAMBLING IN CASABLANCA!’ The White House attacked the Wall Street Journal for a story that questions President Joe Biden’s mental faculties. WSJ relied on interviews with forty-five people who have met with Biden privately or been briefed on such meetings. White House communications director Ben LaBolt expressed faux shock at the report, stating that criticism from Republicans about the president’s age and capacity “contradicts their own prior words.”
GOOD CONVENTION, VIETNAM The Republican National Committee was called out this week for using a photo of the skyline of Ho Chi Minh City on the website for its upcoming national convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The image has since been swapped out and was blamed on a non RNC-affiliated web developer.
GOP eyes New Jersey seat
Last night’s primaries gave some incumbents heartburn and former president Donald Trump an elusive loss.
In Iowa, Republican Representatives Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Randy Feenstra defeated heavily-underfunded primary opponents, but saw their margins dip to closer than they would have liked. Miller-Meeks is heading to a rematch with Democrat Christina Bohannan in November, and Feenstra is heading to an all-but certain victory in November in a race that Democrats are barely contesting.
Over in New Jersey, where Republicans have not been competitive since Chris Christie was governor, hotel magnate Curtis Bashaw upset Trump’s endorsed candidate. He will challenge Representative Andy Kim for the state’s Senate seat. Normally, this election would be all-but written off by Republicans, but incumbent Senator Bob Menendez has just filed to run as an independent. It’s conceivable that Menendez and Kim split the vote and that Bashaw wins with just a plurality.
Finally, in Montana, Republican former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy cruised to the GOP nomination to face off against Senator Jon Tester. Earlier this year, Democrats were eagerly anticipating — and funding, as The Spectator previously reported – a messy primary between Sheehy and Representative Matt Rosendale, which came to an early end when Rosendale pulled the plug on his campaign.
Up next are primaries in Maine, Nevada, North Dakota and South Carolina next Tuesday.
–Matthew Foldi
Bon voyage, Mr. President!
President Joe Biden landed in France today for a five day trip to commemorate the eightieth anniversary of D-Day. He is expected to travel from Paris to Normandy this Thursday, where he will deliver remarks at the D-Day Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony, as well as participate in a ceremonial wreath laying.
While in Normandy Biden will also sit down with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, as per comments made by White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan aboard of Air Force One. At the famed Pointe du Hoc cliffs, according to Sullivan, the president is expected to talk about the need to fight isolationism and authoritarianism. “Democracy and freedom” are the topics mentioned in his schedule for Friday’s remarks.
On Saturday, the president will be back in Paris, where he will participate in a welcome ceremony with President Emmanuel Macron for his first official state visit to France. He’ll then enjoy a parade procession to the Élysée Palace, as well as a working lunch with his French counterpart and a state dinner later that night.
On Sunday, the president will finish it up in Belleau, where he will pay respects at the World War One Aisne-Marne American Cemetery before heading back to Delaware.
–Juan. P Villasmil
