Two Texas border mayors will travel to Washington on Tuesday when President Joe Biden will announce an executive order that will mark his latest and most aggressive plan to reduce the number of migrants allowed to seek asylum in the United States, US media reported.
Brownsville Mayor John Cowen and Edinburg Mayor Ramiro Garza confirmed they had received invitations from the White House for Tuesday’s immigration announcement. Cowen told the Associated Press that he plans to attend, while Garza said he would have more details about his plans on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Democratic mayor of Eagle Pass, a Texas-Mexico border town where the number of migrants has led to a clash between state and federal authorities over border security, had not received an invitation as of Sunday. The mayor from McAllen said he had received an invitation but was unable to attend because of prior commitments.
A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment about other mayors who also received an invitation to the announcement.
Trying to stop migration
The AP reported last week that the White House was finalising an executive order that could stop processing asylum requests and automatically deny entry to migrants once the number of people encountered by US border officials exceeds a new daily threshold.
Unilateral action is expected even though the number of border crossings in the southern US has dropped since December, largely due to increased enforcement from Mexico. However, Biden wants to prevent a possible spike in border crossings, which could occur later this year as the autumn elections approach, when the weather is cooler and the number of people crossing the border typically rises.
Immigration remains a concern for voters ahead of the November election, and Republicans are eager to punish Biden electorally on the issue. Democrats responded by saying Republicans, at the behest of Donald Trump, failed a bipartisan border deal in Congress that would have resulted in the toughest legislative restrictions on asylum in years.
