President Joe Biden speaks about executive action in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Tuesday. (Credit: Alex Brandon/AP)
President Joe Biden frequently cited his predecessor when announcing new executive actions on immigration, which would allow the government to restrict access to asylum seekers who cross the border illegally.
Immigration and the US-Mexico border have become contentious issues in the 2024 presidential race. Former President Donald Trump has made hardline immigration policies a cornerstone of his campaign and regularly raises fears about migrants entering the United States.
Tuesday’s executive action represents an attempt by Biden to address 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 prefer to solve the problem at the border through bipartisan measures, but he blamed Trump and Republican lawmakers for preventing a bipartisan agreement twice this year.
“Donald Trump told them to do this,” Biden said. “He doesn’t want to settle this matter. He wants to use it to attack me. That’s what he wanted to do: This is a reprehensible, deeply reprehensible political move.”
Biden later upended typical Trump-era policies, such as separating children from their families at the border or barring people from entry because of their religion.
“I will not use the United States military to enter neighborhoods across the country to take millions of people out of their homes and away from their families and place them in detention camps awaiting deportation, as my predecessor says he will do if he takes office again,” Biden said.
What Trump said: The anti-immigrant rhetoric that defined Trump’s successful 2016 campaign has grown bleaker and more incendiary as he seeks a return to the White House. He has presented the current immigration crisis as an “invasion” of dangerous criminals who in some cases are “not people.”
Some of his policy proposals include mass arrests, detentions, and deportations. Federal law enforcement would be restructured to direct a “large portion” of agency personnel to immigration enforcement. The National Guard would be deployed and US troops would be deployed if necessary.
CNN’s Phil Mattingly and Andrew Sager contributed to this report
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