President Joe Biden and his administration may soon take executive action to enact harsher asylum policies to address the growing illegal immigration crisis, even after claiming it was impossible for him to do so without congressional approval.
Biden is weighing unilateral action to make it harder to claim asylum for migrants arriving at ports of entry at the southern border, according to three U.S. officials who anonymously spoke to NBC News. The measure Biden is considering taking mirrors that of provisions in the Senate bill released in early February – which he insisted needed to be passed in order for him to alter asylum regulations.
“I’ve made it clear that we need Congress to make changes to fix what is a broken immigration system, because we all know it’s broken,” Biden said during a press conference on Dec. 6. “Republicans have to decide if they want a political issue or if they want a solution at the border. Do they really want a solution? It cannot be sustained as it is now.”
The possible executive action Biden may take is raising the standards used during “credible fear” interviews with migrants seeking asylum, the officials told NBC. Officials can determine during asylum screening interviews whether migrants