What happened
President Joe Biden on Tuesday issued an executive order to clamp down on asylum claims from migrants entering the U.S. across the southern border with Mexico.
Who said what
In order to preserve the U.S. as a "land that welcomes immigrants, we must first secure the border and secure it now," Biden said. It would be much better to "address this issue through bipartisan legislation," he added, but Republican lawmakers "left me with no choice." Biden's new order allows him to temporarily "suspend asylum claims in between ports of entry" when average migrant crossings surpass 2,500 per day over a seven-day period, Politico said. Since that threshold was met this week, the order took effect Wednesday. With certain exemptions, most undocumented migrants are to be repatriated.
It remains to be seen whether the new rules will have any "measurable impact on the border without an accompanying infusion of money from Congress to implement it," The Wall Street Journal said. Biden's proclamation is a "dramatic election-year move" and the "most restrictive border policy instituted" by any modern Democrat, The New York Times said. A similar 2018 effort by former President Donald Trump to cut off migration was "blocked in federal court."
What next?
The American Civil Liberties Union vowed to sue to block the measure. "An asylum ban was illegal under Trump and is just as illegal now," said ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt to The Washington Post.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Pakistan: Trump’s ‘favourite field marshal’ takes chargeIn the Spotlight Asim Munir’s control over all three branches of Pakistan’s military gives him ‘sweeping powers’ – and almost unlimited freedom to use them
-
Codeword: December 6, 2025The daily codeword puzzle from The Week
-
Sudoku hard: December 6, 2025The daily hard sudoku puzzle from The Week
-
Trump’s Ukraine peace talks advance amid leaked callSpeed Read Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff is set to visit Russia next week
-
Memo signals Trump review of 233k refugeesSpeed Read The memo also ordered all green card applications for the refugees to be halted
-
Pentagon targets Kelly over ‘illegal orders’ videoSpeed Read The Pentagon threatened to recall Kelly to active duty
-
Judge tosses Trump DOJ cases against Comey, JamesSpeed Read Both cases could potentially be brought again
-
US, Kyiv report progress on shifting Ukraine peace planSpeed Read The deal ‘must fully uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty,’ the countries said
-
Comey grand jury never saw final indictmentSpeed Read This ‘drove home just how slapdash’ the case is, said The New York Times
-
Summers out at Harvard, OpenAI amid Epstein furorSpeed Read Summers was part of a group being investigated by Harvard for Epstein ties
-
Trump ordered to fully fund SNAPSpeed Read The Justice Department is appealing the decision
