By Ted Hesson
(Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden has “limited ability” to strengthen security at the U.S.-Mexico border through executive action, a top Democratic lawmaker said on Sunday, arguing the issue should be addressed with legislation in Congress.
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, the top Democrat who negotiated a bipartisan border security bill introduced this year, said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that U.S. courts would likely overturn Biden’s sweeping action.
“The president has a very limited ability to issue executive orders that would impact the border. He can’t conjure resources out of thin air,” Murphy said. “If he tried to close parts of the border, the courts would throw that out, I think, in a matter of weeks.”
Biden, a Democrat seeking another term in the Nov. 5 election, said his administration is looking at executive actions to potentially block migrants at the border after Republicans rejected the bipartisan Senate bill this year. Republicans rejected the measure after former President Donald Trump, Biden’s Republican opponent, spoke out against it.
Senate Republicans blocked the bill again last week and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said it “does not secure the border” and “further encourages illegal immigration.”
The number of migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has declined this year, compared with a monthly record in December, a trend that U.S. authorities attribute in part to increased enforcement by Mexico.
Murphy said the decrease was due to “smart and effective diplomacy between the United States and the Mexican government,” but warned that the drop may not be permanent and that illegal crossings remain high compared to a decade ago.
“We just have to recognize that without updating the laws of this country, without directing more resources to the border, we cannot count on the numbers remaining as low as they are today,” Murphy said.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean Pierre said last week that the Senate bill would bring “significant policy changes, resources and personnel needed to secure our border and make our country safer.”
Migrants and asylum seekers transit through Mexico to the US to escape violence, economic hardship and the negative impacts of climate change, according to the United Nations.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Philadelphia; Editing by Mary Milliken)
