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Biden Expected to Block Migrants from Asylum at US-Mexico Border

A drone view shows the US-Mexico border wall, in Jacumba Hot Springs, California, US June 3, 2024. REUTERS/Go Nakamura/ File Photo
A drone view shows the US-Mexico border wall, in Jacumba Hot Springs, California, US June 3, 2024. REUTERS/Go Nakamura/ File Photo
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Biden Expected to Block Migrants from Asylum at US-Mexico Border

A drone view shows the US-Mexico border wall, in Jacumba Hot Springs, California, US June 3, 2024. REUTERS/Go Nakamura/ File Photo
A drone view shows the US-Mexico border wall, in Jacumba Hot Springs, California, US June 3, 2024. REUTERS/Go Nakamura/ File Photo

US President Joe Biden is expected to sign a sweeping new border measure on Tuesday that would allow authorities to quickly deport or send back to Mexico migrants caught crossing the southwest border if illegal entries surpass a certain level, according to two sources with knowledge of the move.
The measure, which would restrict access to asylum, would take effect when US Border Patrol apprehensions surpass 2,500 per day, the two sources said. The illegal crossings would have to dip below 1,500 per day for the asylum restrictions to be lifted, one of the sources said.
The restrictions are not expected to apply to unaccompanied minors. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The election-year move is expected to trigger legal challenges from immigrant and civil rights groups who have criticized Biden, a Democrat, for adopting hardline policies that mirror those of his Republican predecessor, former President Donald Trump, Reuters said.
Biden has toughened his approach to border security as immigration has emerged as a top issue for voting-age Americans in the run-up to Nov. 5 elections where he will face Trump in a rematch of the 2020 contest.
Biden took office in 2021 vowing to reverse some of Trump's restrictive policies but grappled with record levels of migrants caught crossing illegally. Trump has criticized Biden for rolling back his policies and vowed a wide-ranging crackdown if reelected.
The new US restrictions mirror a Biden-backed Senate bill that aimed to block migrants from claiming asylum if the number of migrants caught crossing illegally reached a certain level. The bill was crafted by a bipartisan group of senators but Republicans rejected it after Trump came out in opposition.
The number of migrants caught crossing the US-Mexico border illegally dropped in recent months, a trend US officials partly attribute to increased Mexican enforcement.
Claudia Sheinbaum was elected as Mexico's first female president in a landslide victory on Sunday and will take office on Oct. 1. Biden's border restrictions could put pressure on Sheinbaum, the successor to current President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, to keep illegal border crossings down.

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US Top Diplomat Rubio, China’s Wang Speak in First Phone Call, China Says

Newly confirmed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks next to his wife Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio at the State Department in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)
Newly confirmed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks next to his wife Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio at the State Department in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)
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US Top Diplomat Rubio, China’s Wang Speak in First Phone Call, China Says

Newly confirmed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks next to his wife Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio at the State Department in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)
Newly confirmed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks next to his wife Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio at the State Department in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi by phone on Friday, China's foreign ministry said, the first call between the two top diplomats since President Donald Trump's administration took office on Monday.

The call is the first publicly disclosed contact between an official in the second Trump administration and a Chinese counterpart.

According to a Chinese foreign ministry readout of the call, the two discussed US-China relations and Taiwan.

Wang told Rubio, a known China hawk, "I hope you would conduct yourself well and play a constructive role in the future of the Chinese and American people and in world peace and stability," according to the readout.

In his Senate confirmation hearing last week Rubio labeled China as the gravest threat facing the United States.

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the talks, which come days after Trump said on Wednesday he was considering a 10% duty on Chinese imports because of Beijing’s role in the fentanyl trade.

On Thursday, at a speech to the World Economic Forum, Trump said he was expecting to do "very well" and to get along with China, but his inner circle including Rubio have different views on how to deal with China.

Last week, Xi and Trump agreed on a phone call ahead of the latter's inauguration for a second term, to create a strategic communication channel on "major issues."

During his first term, Trump quickly struck up a relationship with Xi and both men lavishly hosted each other in Florida and Beijing. But that did not stop ties deteriorating into a trade war that unleashed a series of tit-for-tat tariffs and uprooted global supply chains.

According to China's Foreign Ministry, Wang told Rubio that heads of state and China had "pointed out the direction and established the tone for China-US relations."

"The teams of both sides should implement the important consensus of the two heads of state, maintain communication, manage differences, expand cooperation, promote the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-US relations, and find the right way for China and the United States to get along in the new era."

Wang also said that China has "no intention of surpassing or replacing anyone, but we must defend our legitimate right to development."

On Taiwan, he said that the island Taiwan has been part of China's territory since ancient times and China would never allow it to be separated from China.

"The United States has made a solemn commitment to pursue the one-China policy in the three Sino-US joint communiques and must not break its promise," Wang said.

"A major power should behave like a major power, should assume its due international responsibilities, should maintain world peace, and should help all countries achieve common development," he added, echoing statements US officials have made about China.