New York Gov. Kathy Hochul stood with President Joe Biden at the White House Tuesday as he announced new restrictions on asylum claims at the southern border. 

Biden’s executive order comes after Congress failed to act and New York and other cities continue to struggle with an influx of migrants - making it a prominent issue ahead of November’s election. 

“Republicans left me no choice,” Biden said. “Doing nothing is not an option. We have to act. We must act consistent with both our law and our values.” 

What You Need To Know

  • New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Rep. Tom Suozzi joined President Joe Biden at the White House Tuesday as he rolled out a new border executive order

  • The order temporarily shuts down asylum requests once the number of illegal crossings between ports of entry tops 2,500 per day 

  • Hochul praised Biden's announcement, saying, “This will stem the flow, because otherwise, there is no end in sight. This gives us the breathing room to manage the people we have"
  • Some progressives and Republicans from New York criticized the order. Rep. Mike Lawler called it “election year politics, plain and simple”

The order temporarily shuts down asylum requests once the number of illegal crossings between ports of entry tops 2,500 per day. 

In addition to Hochul, New York Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat who made the border and immigration reform messaging a central part of his special congressional election win earlier this year in Queens and Nassau counties, was also on hand for the announcement, which he called “bold.”

In an interview, Hochul said that while the impacts of Biden’s order will not be immediate back home, she believes it is an important step for New York. 

“This will stem the flow, because otherwise, there is no end in sight. This gives us the breathing room to manage the people we have, help them get the work permits,” she said. 

On Capitol Hill, some New York progressives slammed Biden’s announcement. Rep. Nydia Velazquez tweeted she was “extremely disappointed,” saying, “we need comprehensive immigration reform, not a return of Trump-era policies.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican who has called for Biden to act for some time now and helped craft a border bill earlier this year, dismissed the executive order as “election year politics, plain and simple.”

Asked to respond, Hochul pushed back, saying Republicans derailed the bipartisan border proposal crafted over a series of months in the Senate. 

“Donald Trump says, ‘Don’t do it, we can’t give Joe Biden a win.’ That’s the politics that’s at play here, nothing less than that,” she said. 

Biden said he would have preferred Congress act, if for no other reason to avoid lawsuits. Already, the ACLU is pledging to sue over this executive order.