Congress and President Joe Biden are negotiating a bipartisan immigration bill. A purported provision of the proposal is that the president would have the authority to close the border in the event that an excessive number of migrants enter the nation.
Recently, a reporter questioned the press secretary about it, drawing comparisons to the treatment of previous President Donald Trump when he made similar threats.
On January 26, Biden declared that he would have the power to seal the border until law enforcement could take control of it under the measure that Congress is drafting. A few days later, a reporter asked Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre why Biden isn’t being called the same terms when he used “almost identical language” and brought up the fact that people had branded Trump “racist” and “xenophobic” when he announced he was going to close the border in 2019.
Closing the border would have “a different definition” than it did in the past, the press secretary clarified.
When Trump threatened to close the border in 2019, he intended to close it entirely. People furious that the closure will affect billions of dollars’ worth of trade and lawful immigration expressed their displeasure. The 45th president frequently threatened to close the border but never carried through on his threats.
In accordance with the most recent proposal, Biden would have the authority to seal the border in the event that the average number of encounters with migrants surpasses 5,000 per day for seven days, or 8,500 in a single day.
In contrast to Trump’s proposal, Border Patrol would continue to permit up to 1,400 migrants each day to enter the country through authorized ports of entry. The border would stay closed for a week or until the percentage of contacts fell below 75%. The border might remain closed for weeks, according to experts.
Put another way, the Biden administration wants to employ severe language while still allowing immigration into the country, although at a much slower and controlled rate, whereas Trump would have really closed the border.
