Rubio writes off Biden southern border executive order as a 'joke'

Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) is joining the chorus of Republicans deriding President Biden’s executive order to limit asylum at the southern border, calling the plan a “joke” that would do little to lower the number of crossings, even if it is fully implemented.  

“Biden new border ‘plan’ is a joke,” Rubio said in a Tuesday post on social media platform X. 

“Even if Biden actually enforced it fully (which he won’t) it would still allow close to a million people a year to cross illegally ON TOP OF the 10 million he has already allowed in over the last 3 years,” he said. 

The order would prohibit seeking asylum who cross between ports of entry at times when the seven-day average of such migrants is more than 2,500, which is currently the case.

The administration has long been criticized by conservatives for not doing enough to quell the flow of migrants into the country. The order was unveiled after bipartisan border legislation was for a second time blocked by GOP members in the Senate. 

There were 179,725 encounters by Border Patrol agents along the U.S.-Mexico border in April, according to Customs and Border Protection. 

Biden's Tuesday move is taking fire from both side of the aisle.

“I’m disappointed that this is a direction that the president has decided to take,” Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said ahead of its release. 

The American Civil Liberties Union immediately threatened to challenge the action in court.

Rubio, seen as a potential 2024 running mate for former President Trump has been going after Biden more aggressively, calling the president a “demented man."