Trump Responds to Biden's New 'Mass Amnesty' Border Policy

President Donald Trump and his campaign have criticized President Joe Biden’s new executive order on the southern border, claiming it will exacerbate the existing crisis.

On Tuesday, Biden issued an executive order that allows him to close the southern border between ports of entry when illegal crossings average 2,500 per day, which is currently the case, as reported by Politico.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas can reopen the border once average crossings fall below 1,500 per day for seven consecutive days.

Biden’s proclamation attributed the border crisis to global factors such as failing regimes, natural disasters, and “dire economic conditions.”

“As a result of these global conditions, we have been experiencing substantial levels of migration throughout the Western Hemisphere, including at our southwest land border,” Biden stated.

Trump responded to Biden’s plan in a video posted on Truth Social, saying, “Millions of people have poured into our country — and now, after nearly four years of his failed, weak, pathetic leadership, Crooked Joe Biden is pretending to finally do something about the border. But in fact, it’s all about show because he knows we have a debate coming up in three weeks.”

“It will actually make the invasion worse,” he continued. “Biden is secretly granting amnesty to hundreds of thousands of these illegal aliens, along with welfare, government benefits, work permits, and jobs.”

Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared a Trump campaign statement on her X account, saying, “Joe Biden’s Executive Order is for amnesty, not border security.

“After importing more than 15 million illegal aliens into our country and releasing countless criminal migrants who have brutally raped and murdered our citizens, this new order will facilitate the release of more illegals as quickly as possible with a smartphone app,” the statement continued.

“The border invasion and migrant crime will not stop until Crooked Joe Biden is deported from the White House,” the statement concluded.

There are several exceptions to the rule, including migrants with appointments for their asylum claims made through U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s smartphone app, allowing them to enter the United States through a port of entry.

The administration is currently processing about 1,500 migrants’ asylum claims per day at official ports, according to Politico.

Other exceptions include “unaccompanied children, some victims of trafficking, migrants facing acute medical emergencies or imminent threats to their safety,” the outlet noted.

Under Biden’s new directive, over 912,000 migrants per year could theoretically enter the U.S. illegally between ports of entry before the border could be closed.

By comparison, that would surpass Trump’s worst year for illegal border crossings, which was approximately 852,000 in 2019, with the other three years ranging between 300,000 and 400,000.

According to CBP, there were a record 2.48 million total encounters at the southern border in fiscal year 2023, half a million more than all four years under Trump combined.

In total, there have been over 8.1 million border encounters, not including the estimated 1.6 million so-called gotaways who escaped apprehension.

In April, Gallup reported that for the third consecutive month, immigration was the most significant problem facing the U.S.

“A steady 27 percent of Americans say the most important problem facing the U.S. is immigration, topping Gallup’s open-ended trend for the third consecutive month, the longest stretch for this particular issue in the past 24 years,” the polling firm reported. The economy came in third at 17 percent.

Between 2001 and 2024, immigration only held the top spot eight times compared to the economy, which led the list 101 times.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released last month found that 56 percent of Americans believe “most or all immigrants in the U.S. illegally should be deported.”

In January, when asked why he had not yet taken executive action to address the border crisis, Biden responded, “I’ve done all I can do. Just give me the power I asked for the very day I got in office. Give me the Border Patrol. Give me the people that judge [asylum claims]. Give me the people who can stop this and make it work rationally.”

At that time, the president was calling for Congress to pass more funding for border security, which Republicans opposed, saying Biden wanted the increased resources to process even more migrants into the country.

On Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson referred to Biden’s January statement, saying, “It was 126 days ago, today, that Joe Biden said, ‘I’ve done all I can do.'”

Johnson argued that the Biden administration had taken 64 executive actions to keep the border wide open.

The speaker labeled Biden’s new executive order as “window dressing.”

Johnson stated that if the president were serious about securing the border, he would reinstate Trump’s “remain in Mexico” policy and end the catch-and-release of migrants into the country.