1 00:00:01,166 --> 00:00:02,933 AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "NewsHour." 2 00:00:02,933 --> 00:00:05,833 President Biden signed an executive order today that temporarily blocks 3 00:00:05,833 --> 00:00:10,033 migrants from seeking asylum when border encounters reach a certain number. 4 00:00:10,033 --> 00:00:12,500 GEOFF BENNETT: The president used the announcement to set himself 5 00:00:12,500 --> 00:00:17,500 apart from his predecessor and political rival, former President Donald Trump. 6 00:00:19,366 --> 00:00:21,100 JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: I will never demonize immigrants. 7 00:00:21,100 --> 00:00:23,800 I'll never refer to immigrants as poisoning the blood of a country. 8 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:28,533 And, further, I will never separate children from their families at the border. I will 9 00:00:28,533 --> 00:00:33,000 not ban people from this country because of their religious beliefs. I will not use the 10 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:37,033 U.S. military to go into the neighborhoods all across the country to pull millions of people 11 00:00:37,033 --> 00:00:42,000 out of their homes and away from their families, to put detention camps while awaiting deportation, 12 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:47,733 as my predecessor says he will do if he occupies this office again. 13 00:00:47,733 --> 00:00:50,266 GEOFF BENNETT: Still, the move is one of the most restrictive 14 00:00:50,266 --> 00:00:54,300 President Biden has taken to date to crack down on the U.S.-Mexico border. 15 00:00:54,300 --> 00:00:57,333 Our White House correspondent, Laura Barron-Lopez, joins us now. 16 00:00:57,333 --> 00:00:58,733 Laura, it's great to see you. 17 00:00:58,733 --> 00:01:01,266 So what does this executive order actually do? 18 00:01:01,266 --> 00:01:04,266 LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: President Biden said that he needed to take this action to secure the border. 19 00:01:04,266 --> 00:01:09,266 And what it does is that it uses 212(f) authority, what's known as 212(f) authority, 20 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:15,100 to temporarily suspend entry. And so what that allows them to do is to -- asylum 21 00:01:17,266 --> 00:01:20,600 requests will be shut down when daily averages hit 2,500 encounters between ports of entry. 22 00:01:22,900 --> 00:01:27,000 Migrants will then be sent across the border or to their home country. And asylum requests 23 00:01:28,933 --> 00:01:32,466 will only reopen if the average drops below 1,500 encounters across a 14-day period. 24 00:01:34,533 --> 00:01:39,233 And the ACLU has already said, Geoff, that it plans to file a legal challenge to this 25 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:44,633 executive action. And so it's headed to the courts, potentially as far as the Supreme Court. 26 00:01:44,633 --> 00:01:48,266 GEOFF BENNETT: And this is notable, Laura, in part because President Biden ran for the 27 00:01:48,266 --> 00:01:53,233 office he now holds promising to make the asylum process more humane, as he put it, for migrants. 28 00:01:54,166 --> 00:01:56,366 Who does this affect the most? 29 00:01:56,366 --> 00:01:59,933 LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: There are going to be two exceptions to this ban, which is that it 30 00:01:59,933 --> 00:02:04,833 will not impact unaccompanied children and it will not impact victims of human trafficking. 31 00:02:04,833 --> 00:02:08,533 But, roughly, according to April numbers from CBP, 32 00:02:08,533 --> 00:02:12,066 daily encounters are around 5,900. And under U.S. law, 33 00:02:12,066 --> 00:02:17,066 migrants have the right to claim asylum not just at ports of entry, but between ports of entry. 34 00:02:19,266 --> 00:02:23,533 So it's going to impact potentially hundreds of thousands of migrants who have attempted to 35 00:02:25,533 --> 00:02:27,700 claim asylum between ports of entry. And immigration lawyers told me that they're 36 00:02:27,700 --> 00:02:31,800 fearful that this executive action is going to force some families to separate themselves, 37 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:36,800 essentially parents sending their children across the border alone, since unaccompanied minors 38 00:02:38,900 --> 00:02:42,100 are not going to be prohibited to seek asylum wherever they claim asylum across the border. 39 00:02:43,900 --> 00:02:45,533 GEOFF BENNETT: The president today was flanked by some border town mayors, 40 00:02:45,533 --> 00:02:48,233 Democratic governors, Democratic House members. 41 00:02:48,233 --> 00:02:51,533 Still, he's getting some incoming from other Democratic members of Congress and, 42 00:02:51,533 --> 00:02:55,266 of course, Republicans in Congress. Give us a sense of the reaction so far. 43 00:02:55,266 --> 00:02:59,333 Republicans like Senator John Cornyn of Texas accuse President Biden of 44 00:02:59,333 --> 00:03:02,733 playing politics with this executive action. 45 00:03:02,733 --> 00:03:07,266 SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): It is a shell game. It is a shell game. They are not 46 00:03:07,266 --> 00:03:12,266 serious about it. This is a conversion based on the proximity of the next election 47 00:03:14,300 --> 00:03:18,466 and sinking poll numbers. And we think it deserves to be called out for what it is. 48 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:22,800 LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Now, it's important to note, 49 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:26,133 Geoff, that Senator Cornyn was one of the Republicans that voted against that bipartisan 50 00:03:26,133 --> 00:03:30,300 Senate border deal that President Biden negotiated with Republicans, 51 00:03:30,300 --> 00:03:35,066 with one of the most conservative Republicans that there is in the Senate, Senator James Lankford. 52 00:03:35,066 --> 00:03:40,066 But President Biden also received some harsh criticism from Democrats. 53 00:03:42,166 --> 00:03:45,933 REP. NANETTE DIAZ BARRAGAN (D-CA): It's not a time for us to turn to Trump era policies. 54 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:51,100 It's not time to go and use the tools that Trump used. That doesn't make this better or 55 00:03:53,333 --> 00:03:57,933 OK. On the contrary, we should not be looking to those policies. It didn't work under the 56 00:04:00,133 --> 00:04:05,066 prior administration and it's not going to work today under this administration. 57 00:04:07,133 --> 00:04:09,400 LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: That's Congresswoman Nanette Barragan there. She's the chairwoman 58 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:13,033 of the Hispanic Caucus. And she, along with a number of other Latino lawmakers, 59 00:04:13,033 --> 00:04:15,133 were not happy about this executive action. 60 00:04:15,133 --> 00:04:17,300 But there were some Latino lawmakers that were 61 00:04:17,300 --> 00:04:20,600 present that were at the White House event today alongside the president. 62 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:22,366 GEOFF BENNETT: And lastly, Laura, 63 00:04:22,366 --> 00:04:24,933 the president said he will have more to say on this in the coming days. 64 00:04:24,933 --> 00:04:27,166 Based on your reporting, what might that entail? 65 00:04:27,166 --> 00:04:30,033 LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So, multiple sources told me, including some in the room, 66 00:04:30,033 --> 00:04:35,033 that, when President Biden met recently with leaders of the Hispanic Congressional Caucus, 67 00:04:36,833 --> 00:04:39,500 that they asked Biden to not implement this executive order that he did today. 68 00:04:39,500 --> 00:04:43,433 They asked him to not do it, but that they said that, if he had to do it, 69 00:04:43,433 --> 00:04:46,833 that they wanted him to accompany it with other actions that would 70 00:04:46,833 --> 00:04:51,833 potentially provide relief for undocumented migrants currently in the United States. 71 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:57,500 And so I'm told that the White House is considering some actions that would 72 00:04:59,633 --> 00:05:03,133 impact undocumented migrants currently in the U.S. that are married to U.S. citizens. And 73 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:09,033 that could protect some 700,000 to one million undocumented migrants who are married to U.S. 74 00:05:11,366 --> 00:05:14,133 citizens. It would give those spouses protections, allowing them to potentially get work permits. 75 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:20,133 And that would take away the fear of deportation as they go along the process to get green cards. 76 00:05:21,466 --> 00:05:23,366 GEOFF BENNETT: Laura Barron-Lopez, you have been 77 00:05:23,366 --> 00:05:24,833 ahead of the pack with this reporting from the very start. Thanks so much. 78 00:05:24,833 --> 00:05:26,633 LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.