Progressives lambast Biden over potential move to restrict asylum

Progressive lawmakers and advocates on Thursday pushed back strongly against Joe Biden amid reports that the White House is weighing unilateral action to sharply restrict access to claim asylum at the US-Mexico border – comparing the move to the hardline strategies of Donald Trump when he was president.

The leading progressive congressional representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Pramila Jayapalcriticized the US president for considering such executive action, while legislative efforts are stalled on Capitol Hill amid Republican resistance, after CNN first reported that Biden was considering the unilateral move.

“Doing Trump impressions isn’t how we beat Trump,” Ocasio-Cortez said of Biden’s potential action, in a post to X, formerly known as Twitter.

The White House is reportedly considering actions aside from congressional legislation to restrict migrants’ access to the right to ask for asylum in the US if they cross the border from Mexico between official ports of entry, usually without the right papers or an appointment with US authorities.

“Seeking asylum is a legal right of all people. In the face of authoritarian threat, we should not buckle on our principles – we should commit to them. The mere suggestion is outrageous and the President should refuse to sign it,” Ocasio-Cortez, who represents a New York district, added.

Jayapal, who is chair of Congressional Progressive Caucus and represents a district in Washington state, said that Biden would be making a “mistake” if he took such unilateral action to restrict asylum seekers.

“This would be an extremely disappointing mistake,” Jayapal said on X of Biden’s potential executive action.

“Democrats cannot continue to take pages out of Donald Trump and Stephen Miller’s