Joe Biden's own words used to counter his executive order (2024)

After President Joe Biden signed an executive order to restrict asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border, his previous words countering the efforts was pointed out on Sunday as the controversial regulation was last introduced by former President Donald Trump.

On Tuesday, Biden signed an executive order that will restrict and halt the number of migrants able to cross into the United States. Once a daily cap has been reached, it will allow officials to swiftly deport those who enter the country illegally. The measure would kick in once illegal entries surpassed 2,500 per day over a seven-day average, which means it would take effect immediately as crossings already surpass that figure. The southern border would reportedly reopen only when that number falls to 1,500 or below.

Tuesday's executive order used a law known as Section 212(f), which allows the president to suspend the entry of foreigners who are deemed "detrimental to the interests" of the U.S.

Since the order was signed, some have noted Biden's previous stance criticizing the legislation. In July 2019, Biden took to X, formerly Twitter, to stand against then-President Trump's efforts to restrict the asylum process as the law was used by Trump early in his term in the White House, aimed mainly at banning visitors or migrants from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S.

"Trump is fighting tooth and nail to deny those fleeing dangerous situations their right to seek asylum in our nation. We should uphold our moral responsibility and enforce our immigration laws with dignity, not turn away those fleeing violence, war and poverty," Biden wrote on the social media platform at the time.

That executive action was also heavily criticized by Democrats at the time, with Biden signing an order early in his term to reverse Trump's so-called "Muslim ban."

During an appearance on ABC News' This Week on Sunday, host Martha Raddatz confronted Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas with Biden's previous words. Mayorkas defended the Biden administration's asylum restrictions and rejected the notion that Biden's stance is at odds with the administration's current policy.

"What the president said then is what we are living today. We are allowing individuals to access asylum through the ports of entry pursuant to a program that we developed. We are allowing people to access asylum if they come from countries like Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela through a parole program," he said.

Newsweek has reached out to the White House via email for comment.

Meanwhile, Senator Alex Padilla, a California Democrat, condemned Biden's executive order and wrote on X on Tuesday, "By reviving a Trump-era asylum ban, President Biden has abandoned our obligations to provide people fleeing persecution, violence, and authoritarianism with an opportunity to seek refuge in the U.S."

Adding in a statement, the senator said: "This asylum ban will fail to address the challenges at our border, just as it did under the Trump administration."

Raddatz confronted Mayorkas on the criticism of the legislation, noting the American Civil Liberties Union's (ACLU) response to the order in which they said it will sue the administration as the policy "will put thousands of lives at risk" with a concern that those with valid claims to remain in the U.S. will be turned away.

Mayorkas said he "respectfully disagrees" and stands by the legality of the order.

"I respectfully disagree with the ACLU. I anticipate they will sue us. We stand by the legality of what we have done. We stand by the value proposition," he said Sunday.

Biden continues to face bipartisan criticism on the issue, as the country experiences heightened levels of migrant border crossings. There were more than 2.4 million encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border during the 2023 fiscal year, up from roughly 1.7 million in 2021, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

Meanwhile, Trump's 2024 campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday morning that Biden's executive order was amnesty, not border security.

"After importing more than 15 million illegal aliens into our country and releasing countless criminal migrants who have brutally raped and murdered our citizens, this new order will facilitate the release of more illegals as quickly as possible with a smartphone app," Leavitt said in a statement. "The border invasion and migrant crime will not stop until Crooked Joe Biden is deported from the White House."