President Biden will issue an executive order today that will allow him to dramatically limit asylum claims at the Southwest border, granting himself the power that congressional Republicans twice have denied him.
Five months before the election — and in a crucial month for the campaign — Biden is determined to neutralize what could be his biggest political vulnerability against former President Trump: immigration.
The timing of Biden’s order is likely guided by several factors — some on the ground, others political.
It hasn’t happened yet, but crossings tend to rise in the summer months, just when voters’ attention to the presidential race will be increasing.
Biden’s first debate against Trump is June 27, and the ex-president is relishing the chance to skewer Biden’s border policies face to face.
The order comes less than two weeks after a calculated move by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to clear a path for Biden. Schumer put Republicans in a position to kill a bipartisan border deal on the Senate floor — for a second time.
It also comes two days after the elections in Mexico. Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president-elect, has indicated she’ll continue her predecessor’s policy of working with U.S. authorities.
