President Biden’s executive order on immigration and its impacts on the border
JUAREZ, Chihuahua (KVIA) -- President Joe Biden announced new actions to secure the border today.
These new actions will bar or prohibit migrants who cross into the U.S. illegally from receiving political asylum and are set to be in effect when high levels of encounters at the Southern border exceed the country's ability to deliver "timely consequences."
ABC-7 reached out to Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center; its Executive Director Marisa Limón Garza said they don't believe this executive order is legal.
"It is a legal right to seek asylum once you step foot on U.S. soil. So to preclude people from that opportunity, goes against that," said Limón Garza.
Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center's services are dedicated to accompanying people as they seek legal relief through the immigration system.
According to Executive Director Limón, this decision by President Biden will block off access to a legal pathway that people have.
They would like to continue to support through education and through legal advocacy as far as they can to make sure people have that right, but then also understand their options in this new context.
"This creates another complex reality for the people actually seeking protection. It doesn't necessarily do any good for the American public writ large, other than there's a response by the president to a humanitarian reality that's playing out at the southern border," Limón added.
For her, the El Paso region will once again be the one that takes up the case for it, including El Paso's sister city, Juárez.
We also reached out to the Border Network for Human Rights who sent us a statement saying:
"A real, humane, and effective solution begins with applying asylum law as intended. The U.S. must accept those with asylum claims at our ports of entry and provide them with a legal, safe, and dignified process. What President Biden did today was solidify former President Trump’s quest to dismantle our asylum system,” said Fernando Garcia, Executive Director of the Border Network for Human Rights.
