YUMA, Arizona — Former and current border officials believe President Biden is making last-minute changes to his administration’s border policies solely to gain votes in the November presidential election.
On May 16, the Biden administration announced it would implement a new expedited asylum adjudication process for migrants who will have their cases heard in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles or New York City, where decisions will be made within 180 days.
The president is also said to be weighing an executive order to shut down the border once there are 4,000 crossings per day, sources recently told The Post.
Former President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot and former Yuma sector Border Patrol chief Chris Clem all told The Post they feel these fixes are just for show, and won’t address problems caused by the last three and a half years of crisis at the southern border.
Biden’s measures and proposals are just “a fourth-quarter Hail Mary out of desperation,” Clem said.
The Biden administration is also implementing new restrictions for asylum interviews taking place at the southern border to more quickly remove migrants who can’t prove they have a “credible fear” of returning to their home country.
“I think it’s too little too late and counters everything [Biden’s] argued that he doesn’t have the authority,” Clem said.
Clem and Wolf were visiting Yuma as part of a tour led by Polaris, a national security-focused group led by former Trump administration State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus.
The new fixes “aren’t going to have a material difference on what’s going on at the border,” Wolf said.
“We’re almost three and a half years into a crisis and only now are they starting to take executive actions. These are actions that we have been pleading with the administration to take for two and a half to three years.
“They’ve repeatedly told the American people [Biden] doesn’t have the authority, that he needs Congress to act on a bill, and yet they’re starting to act using executive authority, so which is it?” Wolf said.
While searching the border for discarded migrant identification documents — a tactic used by migrants to shield their true identity after they cross the border and claim asylum, making it harder for officers to know where to deport them to — Wilmot shared his dissatisfaction with the Biden administration’s policies.
“Now all of a sudden they want to tout border security. Where have they been?” Wilmot said.
“Why all of a sudden is there border security being pushed? Because it’s election year.”
The Biden administration recently held talks with Mexican officials to discuss ways to crack down on illegal immigration.
Mexican authorities have been pulling migrants without permits off trains and buses headed toward the US and deporting more as part of an agreement with the Biden administration.
Wilmot said the deal with Mexico came to fruition because Biden knew the situation at the border was “a bad look” for him.
“And I don’t care what administration it is, from a public safety standpoint what they’re doing is wrong,” Wilmot said.
In January, Biden told reporters he’d “done all I can do” to address the border and required Congress to act.
Biden has since changed his tune as illegal immigration and enhanced border enforcement are increasingly ranking as top concerns for voters.
