Could Biden really ‘shut down’ the border?

Current and former DHS officials are expressing concern over President Joe Biden’s assertion this weekend that he wants the authority to “shut down” the border.

Current and former officials at the Department of Homeland Security are expressing concern over President Joe Biden’s assertion this weekend that he wants the authority to “shut down” the border.

At a campaign event in South Carolina on Saturday, Biden said Democrats and Republicans are “making real progress” on a bill that would include new border security measures.

“It would also give me, as president, the emergency authority to shut down the border until it can get back under control,” Biden said at South Carolina’s “First in the Nation” dinner. “If that bill were the law today, I’d shut down the border right now and fix it quickly.”

His remarks echoed a statement he released Friday evening, in which he said he would shut down the border if needed “the day I sign the bill into law.”

Two sources familiar with the negotiations said the bill under consideration would force DHS to shut down the border if the daily average for migrant encounters reaches 5,000 over a seven-day period or if the number of crossings in a single day hits 8,500.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/can-biden-really-shut-border-rcna136139

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