President Joe Biden’s new border plan, announced Tuesday, includes closing the U.S.-Mexico border between ports of entry, imposing strict asylum limits, and enhancing deportation measures amidst high crossing rates.

The U.S. border with Mexico will close between ports of entry at midnight as a result of President Joe Biden’s long-awaited executive steps on Tuesday to crack down on asylum seekers.

When there are an average of 2,500 crossings each day over seven days, the president may halt asylum claims in between ports of entry under the action and associated rule from the Biden administration. Administration authorities stated that during the previous week, that level had already been reached.

With this announcement, Biden is making a concerted effort to strengthen his position on immigration before of the election in November. While legislative Republicans crushed efforts to enact bipartisan border legislation earlier this year at the demand of Donald Trump, Biden is likely to use a speech on Tuesday to showcase his unilateral efforts to settle the situation.

“Today I’m moving past Republican obstruction and using the executive authorities available to me as president to do what I can on my own to address the border,” said the president, flanked by two screens reading “SECURING OUR BORDER” in the White House East Room.

“Frankly, I would have preferred to address this issue through bipartisan legislation,” he added, “but Republicans left me with no choice.”

Congressmen, as well as municipal and state leaders from bordering towns and states, joined the president on Tuesday in an attempt to demonstrate political strength and unity on a subject that has long plagued him politically. Progressives and supporters of immigration are anticipated to take offense, and they want to protest the action on Tuesday afternoon.

Biden berated Trump in his speech for pressuring Republicans to oppose the bipartisan border deal. However, he also made an effort to set himself apart from his predecessor in response to leftist criticism that he is adopting Trump administration ideas.

“I will never demonize immigrants. I will never refer to immigrants as poisoning the blood of a country. And further, I will never separate children from their families at the border,” Biden said.

The Departments of Homeland Security and Justice have recently released a new rule that would limit asylum requests during times when there are a lot of border crossings. This will enable the Biden administration to deport certain migrants from the United States within a few hours or days. A five-year ban on entering the nation would be imposed upon these migrants, and they might also face criminal charges.

The president has the power to close the border between ports of entry if the average number of crossings per day over a week surpasses 2,500. DHS chief Alejandro Mayorkas has the authority to reopen the border after the shutdown goes into effect, provided that average crossings remain below 1,500 for seven days in a row. After 14 days, the border can reopen thanks to that decision.

There will still be a few exceptions, such as for unaccompanied minors, certain trafficking victims, migrants with life-threatening illnesses, and migrants whose safety is in immediate danger. Processing will continue for migrants who have made an appointment using the Customs and Border Protection smartphone app to visit a port of entry. Approximately 1,500 migrants are currently processed daily by the Biden administration at authorized ports, and the president’s measures will not impact the humanitarian parole paths he has set up for certain people.

By implementing many modifications to the president’s Title 8 authority—well-established protocols that let the government expel individuals from the nation without a valid reason—the new measures seek to limit asylum. Individuals who enter the country illegally will not be granted refuge unless there are exceptional reasons, and they will only be referred to an asylum officer in certain situations. Additionally, there will be stricter screening criteria for migrants by asylum officers than there were in the past to ascertain whether they are afraid or intend to apply for asylum.

Senior administration officials justified the move as a last choice on Tuesday, pointing out that earlier in the year, Congress was unable to adopt the bipartisan border compromise. They persisted in their caution that the president is limited by the funds and assets that Congress has authorized.

“We have repeatedly asked Congress for emergency supplemental funding to allow us to enhance and increase our ability to deliver consequences at the border. And unfortunately, Congress has failed to act on those requests,” a second senior administration official said.

Legal challenges are anticipated for the moves that Biden announced on Tuesday, just as they did for the Trump administration when it used the same presidential authority to enact broad changes to the immigration system. The president’s aides claimed that in exercising their power, they made “important humanitarian and legal changes.” However, they also stated that they are ready to defend the policy modifications in court.

The American Civil Liberties Union promptly said on Tuesday that it would file a legal challenge against the practices of the Biden administration, pointing out that they “take the same approach as the Trump administration’s asylum ban.”

Recently, GreatGameIndia reported that, according to people familiar with the government, Biden is planning to send migrants for resettlement in Greece and Italy.