Biden intends to continue border lockdowns until election, White House suggests

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Customs and Border Protection recorded the lowest number of encounters with undocumented immigrants in July and last month since September 2020. The number of encounters last month was 68% lower than in August 2023, and the average number of daily encounters is down 50% since June, when Biden took executive action.

“I have no changes to speak of, no policy changes,” Jean-Pierre said Washington Examiner.

Biden’s executive order, which limits the ability of migrants who cross the border illegally to apply for asylum, remains in effect when there are “high levels of encounters,” specifically when the daily average is 1,500 encounters. The daily average last month was about 2,000, approaching the threshold that could trigger a rollback.

“We took this action because congressional Republicans refuse to act,” Jean-Pierre said, referring to the bipartisan legislation that died in the Senate. “We’re going to continue to address the issue that most Americans care about, right? It’s about providing border security, dealing with border security without congressional Republicans who have gotten in the way and are not providing, are not willing to provide more assistance, more resources.”

“If we could get a bipartisan border agreement through, we would have the additional resources to actually deal with this without the actions the president took,” she added.

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Immigration and the border are top concerns for voters heading into the November election, with former President Donald Trump and other Republicans criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris for her role as the Biden administration official responsible for addressing the root causes of migration.

An increase in illegal border crossings ahead of Nov. 5 could create political problems for Harris, as polls show voters trust Trump more on immigration and related issues.