President Joe Biden is embracing tougher border measures, including shutting down the US-Mexico border, marking a stark shift from his early days in office as he tries to fend off former President Donald Trump’s attacks on immigration policy ahead of the election.
Hours after House Speaker Mike Johnson warned on Friday that the emerging border deal in the Senate is “dead on arrival,” Biden offered this message to House Republicans: “Securing the border through these negotiations is a win for America. For everyone who is demanding tougher border control, this is the way to do it. If you’re serious about the border crisis, pass a bipartisan bill and I will sign it.”
Biden took office pledging to restore asylum and manage the border in a “humane” way. But his administration has faced the harsh realities and challenges at the US-Mexico border amid record migration across the Western Hemisphere — making it a political vulnerability seized on by Republicans.
In recent weeks, Trump has lobbied Republicans to oppose the border compromise being delicately hashed out in the Senate because he wants to campaign on the issue this November.
Over the course of his administration, Biden has leaned on more restrictive measures to try to stem the flow of migration, but Friday’s statement revealed a tougher stance as the president tries to control an issue that’s dogged him, while risking putting him at odds with some allies.
“(The compromise) would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed. And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law,” Biden’s statement said.
Biden’s embrace of an authority that would allow him to shut down the border in the event of a migrant surge was striking to current and former administration officials, as well as to…
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