President Joe Biden issued a Presidential Proclamation on June 4 to secure the border, but it has not yet proven beneficial for the border crisis.
It has been two weeks since Biden announced his executive actions to tighten laws around asylum requests at the southern border. The actions make it easier for border officers to turn away illegal aliens seeking asylum; however, border officers still find the border crisis hard to tackle because illegal alien numbers remain high, border officers lack resources, and some illegal aliens are difficult to deport back to their countries.
The measures in Biden’s executive actions went into effect when there were more than 2,500 illegal alien encounters between the ports of entry for seven consecutive days. The measures stop 14 days after there have been seven consecutive days of less than 1,500 illegal alien encounters between the ports of entry.
U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens said he does not see Biden’s border security measures stopping “anytime soon.” That is because the USBP is encountering almost 4,000 illegal aliens daily.
“For right now, no, I don’t see it shutting off anytime soon until it starts to have that impact where the migrants get the message, ‘Hey, if you want to come into this country, you need to come into a port of entry,’” Chief Owens said. “‘This country has the right to say yes or no. You don't get to flaunt the laws and start off on the wrong foot with us.’”
“We want to get back to the border security mission. We want to focus on the bad actors, the criminals and sexual predators, the narcotics that are coming into this country…” @USBPChief says they are eternal optimists and hopeful that they will see a change in migrant flows.
— Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) June 11, 2024
My… pic.twitter.com/hoEzDFVFDi
The White House claimed Biden’s actions would “reduce the burden on our Border Patrol agents;” however, the Department of Homeland Security said in a fact sheet they “lack the authorities and resources” needed to support people working at the border. Therefore, the DHS “calls” on Congress to take up and pass bipartisan reforms proposed in the Senate that will give the administration new “authorities, personnel, and resources” needed to tame the illegal alien problem at the border. Until then, the DHS has said it will continue to work hard with its limited resources to secure the border.
Border officers say a big reason why they are requesting more resources is they don’t have enough or the right tools to deport everyone, mainly people from countries in South America, Asia, Africa, and Europe, reported News Nation. Some illegal aliens take at least five days to issue travel documents, and other illegal aliens come from countries that do not accept U.S. flights.
Chief Owens also said if the U.S. has good partnerships and collaboration with other countries and “everybody is able to do their part,” then Biden’s executive actions can help the border crisis.
“For this EO to function, it's not just border control,” Chief Owens said. “We have to have ERO, we have to have CIS, all of them doing their part. We have to have the government of Mexico continue to be the great partners that they are and accept folks from those countries back who have crossed into the country illegally. When they do that, then the CEO will have a positive impact.”