Washington, DC – President of the United States Joe Biden has imposed new restrictions that would prohibit most migrants who cross the southern U.S. border without authorization from applying for asylum in the country.

The White House announced the new measures on Tuesday, saying the US needed to “secure” its borders.

“These measures will come into force when high Levels of encounters at the southern border exceed our ability to take timely action, as is the case today,” the White House said in a statement.

“They will make it easier for immigration officials to deport people without legal permission and reduce the burden on our border guards.”

The measure will prevent any migrant crossing the southern border without authorization from applying for asylum if the average number of illegal border crossings exceeds 2,500 per day.

CBS News reported last month that the U.S. Border Patrol reports an average of 3,700 unauthorized border crossings each day.

The new rules will come into force early Wednesday and will remain in place until the number of unauthorized border crossings falls below the daily average of 1,500 for a week. The restrictions will be reimposed if the number rises again.

The decree provides exceptions for unaccompanied minors and persons identified as victims of human trafficking.

While Biden previously imposed restrictions As for asylum seekers, Tuesday's measures are the most comprehensive restrictions he has imposed on immigration at the southern border.

The announcement comes as Biden campaigns for the November presidential election, in which he will face his predecessor and Republican rival Donald Trump.

Hannah Flamm, legal counsel at the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), said the decree would “effectively close the border” to asylum seekers.

“Before this rule, there were countless obstacles to applying for asylum, which the Biden administration has only tightened and strengthened in recent weeks and months. But there was an opportunity to do it,” Flamm told Al Jazeera.

“Once the limit of 2,500 encounters per day is reached, by default you have no chance of applying for asylum under this rule.”

Similar approach to Trump

Immigration and civil rights groups immediately criticized the restrictions, calling them an “asylum ban,” similar to Trump's politics when he was in office.

“The Biden administration just announced an executive order that severely restricts people’s legal right to seek asylum, putting tens of thousands of lives at risk,” the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a social media post on Tuesday.

“This measure follows the same approach as the Trump administration's asylum ban. We will challenge this order in court.”

Under U.S. law, anyone can seek asylum on American soil by claiming persecution in their home country. Federal authorities and immigration courts would then have to review the application, a lengthy process that could take years to complete.

However, the White House cited sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which grant the president powers to regulate immigration, as the legal basis for the restriction.

Trump had used the same law to enforce his so-called “Muslim ban” in 2017, when he banned citizens of several Countries with Muslim majority from entering the USA.

However, Biden sought to draw a distinction between himself and Trump when announcing the executive order on Wednesday.

“I will never demonize immigrants,” Biden told reporters. “I will never call immigrants poisoners of our country's blood. And I will never from their families at the border. I will not banish anyone from this country because of their religious beliefs.”

He also accused Republicans of not working with the White House to resolve the immigration issue and provide more funding for border security.

Nevertheless, many lawmakers from Biden's own Democratic Party criticize the measure.

“This attempt to close the border to asylum seekers uses the same section of U.S. immigration law that convicted felon Donald Trump used to implement the travel ban on Muslims and in his attempt to deny them any access to asylum,” Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said in a statement.

“While there are some differences from Trump's actions, the reality is that this is the same failed enforcement-only approach, punishing asylum seekers and promoting the false claim that these actions will 'fix' the border.”

By reviving a Trump-era asylum ban, President Biden has abandoned our commitment to provide people fleeing persecution, violence, and authoritarianism with the opportunity to seek refuge in the United States.

My full statement on @POTUS' Executive action: pic.twitter.com/Kn52Qa2zHa

— Senator Alex Padilla (@SenAlexPadilla) June 4, 2024

“Moral and political failure”

Immigration is a sensitive issue in US politics, especially in an election year. At the southern border of the USA, there was a Record level of new arrivals in recent years.

Republicans often accuse Biden of opening the US border to illegal immigrants and allowing criminals and illegal drugs into the country. Trump has in particular made anti-immigration rhetoric a central point of his election campaign.

And some Republican governors in the southern US states have chartered buses and planes to Transport of migrants in northern, predominantly democratic cities.

IRAP's Flamm said the claim that Biden is pushing an open border policy is unfounded.

“Biden is incredibly tough on the border,” she said. “And I think it's a moral and political failure of this administration not to take a position that protects the rights of immigrants and people seeking safety in the United States.”

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Biden had taken executive action in the absence of legislation to try to “alleviate some of the pressure” caused by border crossings.

“In this hemisphere alone, we have seen more people fleeing since World War II,” Kirby said in a television interview with Al Jazeera.

“We are working very hard with our partners in the region, including and especially with Mexico, to do everything in our power to contain the reasons for this migration and to try to find the root causes of it.”