Biden announces executive action on immigration

As the politics and legality of the Biden administration's new executive action to ban asylum seekers who cross the US-Mexico border illegally continue to play out, migrants are battling deadly, triple-digit heat as they attempt to cross into the US near El Paso, Texas.

Emergency responders last weekend responded to multiple emergencies involving heat-related illnesses that resulted in the deaths of four migrants, according to the US Border Patrol (USBP) El Paso Sector.

“Tragically, agents encountered four migrants who had died from heat stroke and dehydration,” USBP said in a message on Facebook. 

Temperatures in the region last weekend were around 100 degrees each afternoon. 

USBP warned that people crossing should consider the risks involved due to extreme heat and triple-digit temperatures.  

“People need to seriously consider the severe risks of crossing in extreme heat under the treacherous conditions of the desert, including death. BP agents work tirelessly to save lives, but the safest option is not to attempt the crossing,” USBP said.

The National Weather Service (NWS) El Paso office has issued a heat advisory for the area this week as the next several days will be even hotter with temperatures expected to reach 104 degrees.

“A heat advisory has been issued for portions of El Paso, Dona Ana, and Hudspeth counties for Wednesday and Thursday. REMEMBER: Drink plenty of fluids, stay in the AC, check up on relatives/neighbors, don't leave pets or children unattended in vehicles!!,” the NWS El Paso office said in a forecast message. They warned that “hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses to occur.”

CNN Meteorologist Taylor Ward contributed to this report

Some migrants on their way to the US-Mexico border don’t seem to be too concerned with President Joe Biden’s executive action on immigration announced Tuesday.

“They (the US) have been saying the same thing for a long time, since Trump was there, they are saying that the border is going to be closed,” said one migrant CNN en Español spoke to in Tuxtla, a city located in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas.

One migrant said the US can make any “decision they want” but “we are going to try to reach the goal.”

"Just like when we knocked down the doors of Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Brazil, Peru, Spain and so on. This is never going to end. This is a process of many years,” he said.

Another migrant expressed concern about the actions of the US and said that after crossing the Darien Gap and several countries, it would be “hard” to have the final border they need to cross shut down.

“I wouldn't wish it on anyone because there are many, many things that one went through along the way to get to here,” he said.

Republicans came out swinging against President Joe Biden's newest executive action on the border, despite the fact that it plans to impose stricter measures on immigration.

Some criticized Biden about not implementing the executive actions sooner, while others said the executive action does not go far enough, touting the Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" policy.

"It's window dressing," said Speaker Mike Johnson in a news conference Tuesday. "And we don't know what's in this. The devil will definitely be in the details here."

A joint statement from Republican leadership -- signed by Reps. Tom Emmer, Mike Johnson, Steve Scalise, and Elise Stefanik -- stated, "Over a year ago, House Republicans passed the Secure the Border Act, which would actually fix the problem, but Joe Biden and Senate Democrats continue to drag their feet on taking meaningful action, sacrificing the safety and security of our communities."

While House Democrats did vote against a border bill sponsored by Republicans last year, Senate Republicans doomed multiple border-related bills negotiated with Democrats, showing that in an election year, neither party wants to give the other a win on immigration.

Rep. Richard Hudson, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, called Biden's executive action "too little, too late."

"After 64 open border executive actions, zero House Democratic votes for the Secure the Border Act, and two million illegal crossings per year - Joe Biden has finally woken up to the fact he has a political problem at the border," Hudson said in a release Tuesday.

A statement from the American Action Network, a conservative advocacy group, criticized Biden on revoking the signature Trump-era immigration policy.

“If the President was serious about stopping the crisis at the southern border, why isn’t he reinstating Remain in Mexico?” said AAN communications director Courtney Parella.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said he is “disappointed” that the Biden executive action doesn’t include a path to legalization but also noted that President Biden had no other choice but to offer an executive action after GOP rejected bipartisan border bills earlier this year.

In March, Durbin and a group of fellow Senate Democrats sent a letter to Biden outlining recommendations for executive actions to streamline immigration relief for the undocumented population and DACA holders in the United States.

The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee bashed the new executive action that President Joe Biden unveiled on Tuesday that would allow the administration to ban asylum seekers who cross the border illegally.

Former Trump White House senior adviser Stephen Miller made several baseless and inflammatory claims on the call with reporters, including that the new expected action from Biden is “pro-child slavery, pro-child trafficking, pro-child sexual servitude.” He described Biden’s actions as “evil” and “radical,” and called the president a “criminal” and a “monster.” 

Miller, a longtime Trump adviser, was the architect behind some of the Trump administration’s most controversial immigration policies.

Former Acting Director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tom Homan, who oversaw Trump’s controversial “zero tolerance” policy for illegal border crossings that led to children being separated from their parents, was also on the call, in addition to Trump campaign spokesperson Jason Miller. 

“This president has done nothing to honestly do his job and secure the border and the actions they’re taking today doesn't secure the border, it doesn’t fix anything," Homan said.

President Joe Biden frequently mentioned his predecessor as he announced new immigration executive actions that would allow the administration to ban asylum seekers who cross the border illegally.

Immigration and the US-Mexico border have become hot-button issues in the 2024 presidential race. Former President Donald Trump has made hardline immigration policies a cornerstone of his campaign and regularly stokes fears about migrants entering the US.

Tuesday’s executive order marks an attempt by Biden to address head-on one of his biggest political vulnerabilities, just weeks before the first presidential debate with Trump. 

Biden came out of the gate attacking Republicans, saying he would rather solve the issue at the border through bipartisan measures — but blamed Trump and GOP lawmakers for blocking a bipartisan deal twice this year.

“Donald Trump told them to,” Biden said. “He didn't want to fix the issue. You want to use it to attack me. That’s what he wanted to do — it’s a cynical, an extremely cynical political move.”

Later, Biden went after specific Trump-era policies like separating children from their families at the border or banning people based on their religion.

“I will not use the US military to go into neighborhoods all across the country to pull millions of people out of their homes and away from their families to put (in) detention camps while awaiting deportation, as my predecessor says he will do if he occupies his office again,” Biden said.

What Trump has said: The anti-immigrant rhetoric that defined Trump’s successful 2016 campaign has darkened and grown even more inflammatory as he seeks a return to the White House. He has framed the current migrant crisis as an “invasion” by dangerous criminals, who in some cases “are not people.”

Some of his policy proposals include mass arrests, detention and deportation. Federal law enforcement would be restructured to direct “massive portions” of agency personnel toward immigration enforcement. The National Guard would be deployed and, if necessary, US troops as well.

CNN's Phil Mattingly and Andrew Seger contributed reporting to this post.

The American Civil Liberties Union will sue the Biden administration over its new executive action that would shut down the US-Mexico border to asylum-seekers crossing illegally, an official from the legal advocacy group told CNN, likening the action to ones taken during the Trump administration.

"We successfully sued President Trump -- that's the case that I argued a few years ago, we said that that was illegal when he tried an asylum ban that we think is very similar to the one that President Biden is doing. We think it remains illegal. And so we will challenge that in court," said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, said on CNN's "News Central."

The executive order uses an authority known as “212(f)” – a regulation used under the Trump administration and widely denounced at the time by Democrats. CNN previously reported that some Justice officials expressed doubts that proposed changes, aimed at trying to address previous court rulings against the Trump-era order, could survive litigation with the action set to go into effect at midnight.

"We're not saying that everyone is entitled to asylum, but we made a solemn promise after World War II, we would never send people back without at least screening them. This policy will mean not even a screen to see if people are in grave danger" because of religious or political views, Gelernt added.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez, MJ Lee and Arlette Saenz contributed to this report.

During President Joe Biden's remarks on an executive action restricting immigration, he addressed critics who have called the action too harsh.

"Be patient. The goodwill of American people are wearing thin right now," he said.

"Doing nothing is not an option. We have to act," Biden added.

Polling has shown that immigration is a key issue in the election and a weakness for Biden, with many voters and politicians blaming him on the record-high levels of immigration at the border. However, the executive action has also faced criticism from members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, including Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, who argued that Biden should also expand legal pathways to citizenship. Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California, who hails from a state that depends heavily on immigrant labor, also criticized the executive action.

On the other side of the aisle, Republicans have blasted Biden on not acting sooner to address the migrant crisis. However, many Senate Republicans also voted against measures that would put border restrictions into law, refusing to give Biden a legislative win during an election year.

In an attempt to appease his critics, Biden also added, in "the weeks ahead, I'll speak to how we can make our immigration system more fair and more just."

President Joe Biden discussed the importance of immigration in the United States, pointing to the country’s roots and attacking his predecessor.

The president announced new executive action would bar migrants who cross the border illegally from seeking asylum once a daily threshold is met. It’s a departure from decades-long protocol.

While taking those actions, he tried to draw a strict contrast with his opponent in November.

“I will never demonize immigrants. I'll never refer to immigrants as poisoning the blood of a country. Further, I've never separated children from their families at the border,” Biden said, pointing to specific points that Donald Trump has said he would bring back or carry out if he is elected in November.

Biden emphasized the importance of providing people with a pathway to citizenship but said in order to “protect America as a land that welcomes immigrants, you must first secure the border and secure it now.”