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A group of migrants approach the wall at the southern border of the United States. / AFP.
U.S. President Joe Biden is preparing an executive order taking tough measures to stem the flow of migrants through the Mexican border, an increasingly sensitive issue in the November presidential election, multiple local media outlets reported on Monday.
The measure, to be announced on Tuesday, would allow authorities to deport migrants who cross the border illegally without first processing their asylum applications, according to U.S. media reports.
The new rules, which Biden will launch at a White House ceremony with border state authorities, will take effect as border crossings increase.
The White House declined to comment on the media reports.
“From the outset, the administration has been evaluating what actions could be taken. No final decisions have been made about what additional executive actions, if any, could be taken,” a White House official told AFP.
Record numbers of migrants have arrived at the border under Biden, increasing pressure on Democrats, who trail Donald Trump in most polls heading into the Nov. 5 election.
Republicans have accused Biden of taking a very soft approach to what Trump has called an immigrant “invasion.”
In 2023 alone, more than 2.4 million migrants crossed the southern border, mostly from Central America and Venezuela as they fled poverty, violence, and the devastation caused by climate change.
The peak was reached in December, with 10,000 people crossing the border each day. Although the numbers have dropped significantly since then, polls show the issue is one of Biden’s weaknesses in remaining in the White House.
The new measures would be among the toughest yet taken by Democratic leaders and would apply to the same law the Trump administration used to restrict immigration from some Muslim countries.
But they may also be questioned in court.
As part of his campaign, Trump has stoked rhetoric against immigrants, even claiming they are “poisoning the nation’s blood.”
Despite becoming the first former US president to be criminally convicted, the tycoon is still eager to return to the White House.
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