President Biden will not announce any executive actions to address the surging immigration crisis during his Thursday visit to the border, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters.
Instead, Mr. Mayorkas insisted that Congress needs to endorse a bipartisan package of immigration reforms, a package that also includes billions to Ukraine. Ultimately the Ukraine aid package cleared the Senate and was sent to the House without the border security measures.
“There will not be any executive actions today as I continue to say that legislation is what we need,” Mr. Mayorkas told reporters aboard Air Force One. “It is the enduring solution. Actions taken outside of legislation are often met with litigation challenges in court.”
The president has been considering an executive order that would shut down the border to new arrivals if an average of 5,000 migrants per day try to cross unlawfully over the course of a week. More than 8,500 cross on a given day.
Mr. Biden has resisted pulling the trigger on such an order, arguing that it would be blocked by the courts and only congressional legislation would grant him the authority to address the border crisis.
But some argue that a White House immigration executive order could help deflect Republican criticism that the administration is avoiding the crisis and pressure House GOP leaders to accept a legislative compromise.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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