After spending his first day in office shredding what he labeled Donald Trump’s “xenophobic” border security measures, Joe Biden is now quietly reversing course with a new executive order intended to stem the tide of illegal immigration—a problem that has dramatically escalated under his watch. This shift is a tacit admission that the open-border policies, which some estimate have allowed upwards of 20 million illegal migrants to flood into the United States, have been a catastrophic failure.
Biden’s latest executive order aims to slash asylum claims by roughly two-thirds from current figures and cap daily migrant encounters at an average of 2,500 per day—or approximately 912,000 per year. This cap would be enforced unless encounters drop to around 1,500 per day, at which point the administration would permit mass asylum claims to resume. This move is particularly telling, coming just three months after the White House explicitly stated that Biden had ruled out using executive action to secure the border.
The timing of this order, mere months before the election, reveals a desperate scramble by the administration to regain control of a narrative that has spiraled into a significant liability. With immigration and border security poised as central themes of the Republican campaign—fueled by Donald Trump’s relentless critiques—it’s clear that Biden’s hand has been forced by overwhelming public concern and damning polling data.
Trump, who plans to deport the millions who have entered illegally during Biden’s term, has successfully convinced voters that the current border crisis is not just a policy failure but a direct threat to national security. The executive order is also strategically timed to pre-empt the seasonal spike in crossings that typically occurs in summer and early fall—conveniently right before voters head to the polls.
House Speaker Mike Johnson’s remarks succinctly capture the sentiment of many Americans: Biden’s action is “too little, too late.” The sudden urgency to address border security underscores a grudging acknowledgment that the liberal fantasy of open borders is incompatible with the realities of national security and public welfare. This dramatic about-face by Biden, driven purely by electoral calculations, is a profound betrayal of both his own party’s earlier stances and the trust of the American people.
