President Joe Biden is expected to announce Tuesday that he will temporarily close the US-Mexican border to migrants whenever numbers of illegal crossings become excessive, in a dramatic bid to address one of his political weak spots in the reelection battle against Donald Trump.
Biden, 81, is set to sign a long-awaited executive order that would allow officials to curb asylum seekers and migrants when numbers top 2,500 in a day, US media reported. Under the rule, authorities would be able to then deport migrants who had crossed into the United States without proper documentation.
Given that illegal crossings are already often above that threshold, the freeze could be implemented at once, US media reported. Under the measure, asylum seekers would again be allowed to enter once the numbers dropped below 1,500 a day.
The move would be one of the toughest ever by a Democratic president and see him moving........