‘He’s desperate:’ Rep. Smucker says President Biden’s restriction on asylum seekers doesn’t go far enough

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker said Tuesday evening that new border restrictions announced by President Joe Biden didn’t go far enough to address the migrant crisis.

Smucker called the move — which bars asylum seekers' entrance into the U.S. once the seven-day average for illegal entries hits 2,500 per day — a “desperate” attempt from Biden to win over voters who want to see stricter policies at the southern border.

“Throughout his entire presidency up until now, he's taken… scores of steps to create an open border,” Smucker said. “And so this one small change that he's doing, I don't think he's going to change people's minds about what he's done in this policy area.”

Biden’s stance on immigration policy is a weak point among voters, according to an April AP-NORC poll. About 56% of respondents believe Biden’s policies have “hurt” border security, while just 16% found them to help and 27% remained neutral.

It’s been reported the president acted Tuesday to win over some middle-of-the-road voters who feel strongly about the country’s immigration policies.

April’s statewide Franklin & Marshall College Poll found that 5% of registered voters surveyed named immigration the “most important problem facing Pennsylvania today,” up from 1% at the same time last year.

Though other issues were factored into that poll, just 35% of Pennsylvania’s registered voters said Biden was doing an “excellent” or “good” job as president. About 52% said he was doing a “poor job.”

“I think he’s desperate,” Smucker said. “This is far too little too late to really have an impact.”

Smucker said he wants Senate Democrats to advance H.R. 2, which included provisions similar to Biden’s executive action. That legislation would also establish a new surveillance system at the border, require employers to verify that their workers are in the country legally, permit the construction of a southern border wall and end many protections for minors who illegally cross the border.

“This, to me, doesn't have anything to do with legal immigration. We need additional workers. We need to welcome people into the country who want to work hard, who want to live the American dream,” Smucker said. “But we need to know who's coming in. We need to properly vet them.”

Though he didn’t say what policies he’d like to see, Democratic Sen. Bob Casey said in a statement that he, too, wants to see further action from Biden on immigration.

“The President’s action today is (an) important step to secure our southwest border, but more needs to be done to address this crisis,” Casey said. “I will continue to work with anyone who is willing to come to the table and get that done.”

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Biden’s latest action marks the most restrictive border policy adopted by his administration.

Some advocacy groups have likened it to former President Donald Trump’s 2018 effort to cut off asylum for migrants who cross the border illegally without registering at official points of entry. Trump’s policy was blocked by a federal judge that year.

One of those groups, the American Civil Liberties Union, condemned Biden’s ban Tuesday, posting on X: “We will be challenging this order in court.”

Biden said his action is not like Trump’s and that he will “never demonize immigrants.”

“The simple truth is there is a worldwide migrant crisis, and if the United States doesn’t secure our border, there is no limit to the number of people who may try to come here, because there is no better place on the planet than the United States of America,” Biden said.