While hosting the National Governors Association at the White House on February 23, President Biden claimed that he was considering executive actions to slow illegal immigration along the southern border, the Associated Press reported.
The president blamed congressional Republicans for blocking a bipartisan border security bill and feigned frustration over what he said were limits to his ability to act unilaterally.
Biden told the governors that the US immigration system was “broken,” arguing that the laws have not kept up with the system. He accused Republicans of “petty politics” for killing the Senate deal that would have allowed thousands of illegals to enter the United States every day.
According to Governors Association Chairman Utah Republican Governor Spencer Cox, during a private session with the governors, the president said that he was considering options for executive action but did not specify what those options were.
Cox told reporters that Biden revealed that he was working with White House lawyers to come up with executive actions that would withstand court challenges and claimed that he was frustrated because the attorneys weren’t giving him the answers he wanted.
Vice Chairman Jared Polis, the Democrat Governor of Colorado, told reporters that Biden left the governors with the “general sense” that the White House was “looking into whatever they can do on the executive side.”
According to Governor Polis, the president noted that some of Donald Trump’s executive actions on immigration had been overturned in court and he wanted to avoid the same fate.
Polis told reporters that many of the actions that need to be taken to address the crisis at the border must be done by Congress. However, Polis said the president mentioned the possibility of declaring a national emergency at the border which could allow for additional funding needed to crackdown on illegal border crossings.
One of the actions the White House is considering is for the president to invoke authorities under Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act that would allow him to block entry of immigrants deemed “detrimental” to US interests.
When asked last Friday about if and when the president would act, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said no decisions had been made.
