President Biden’s executive order limiting the number of asylum seekers who can cross the border drew criticism from Republicans and muted praise from Democrats, but the local organizations that help the refugees uniformly criticized it.
The executive order, which took effect on Wednesday, shuts down processing of asylum claims once the average number of daily requests reaches 2,500. Processing would reopen only when the average number drops below 1,500.
At Jewish Family Service of San Diego, which processes the largest number of asylum seekers in the San Diego area, Senior Director of Immigration Services Kate Clark called the executive order “incredibly disappointing” and likely to lead to human suffering.
“We know from experience that punitive actions like this executive order will do nothing to solve the humanitarian crisis at our borders,” Clark said. “We need all levels of government to come together to aid and increase safe pathways for people fleeing violence and persecution and in the immediate future increase numbers being processed through ports of entry.”
The American Civil Liberties Union announced that it will file suit against the executive order, and the local chapter warned of dire consequences.
“Seeking asylum is a human right protected under both international and U.S. laws. Biden’s executive order breaks his 2020 campaign promise to restore asylum and will cause unjust harm to vulnerable families and individuals,” said Felicia Gomez, immigrants’ rights senior policy advocate at the ACLU Foundation of San Diego & Imperial Counties.
“Instead of using people seeking asylum as bargaining chips for political gains, we need elected leaders to protect the right to asylum and invest in community-driven solutions that welcome newcomers with dignity, respect and humanity,” Gomez said.
Rep. Mike Levin, a Democrat who represents north coastal San Diego County, applauded Biden’s action but said it is not a substitute for Congressional action, referring to the bipartisan Senate bill that languished after Donald Trump criticized it.
“I applaud President Biden for issuing a set of executive actions to strengthen border security while also ensuring we keep families together and crack down on those profiting from human smuggling,” Levin said.
But Republican Darrell Issa called the action a “fake border crackdown” that will make the situation worse.
“The entire country knows that on day one of his presidency, Joe Biden threw open the nation’s borders, ended policies that were working to restrict illegal crossings, turned America into a sanctuary nation, prevented Border Patrol professionals from doing their job, and repurposed them as Uber drivers for illegals,” said Issa, who represents east San Diego County.
