This is democracy now, democracy now.

democracy now.org, the war and peace report. I'm Amy Goodman.

On Tuesday, President Biden signed an executive order that went into effect at midnight

and will continue to codify the far rights anti-immigration agenda by temporarily shutting

down the U. US-Mexico border

and severely restricting protections for migrants seeking asylum.

Republicans mostly condemned Biden's executive order.

Donald Trump's presidential campaign issued a statement calling it quote

for amnesty, not border security, unquote.

A number of Democratic lawmakers have also blasted the border order.

This is Congress member Pramilla Jaiopol,

chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, at a news conference in Washington,

D.C. on Tuesday.

We are making the same mistake again that Democrats continually make when we try to out-repubican the Republicans. It does not work. It does not

work. It does not solve the situation at the border. It dramatically

curtails the ability for people to seek asylum at the border,

which is what our domestic laws and our international treaty obligations require.

The podium that Congress Member Jayapol was speaking at said

hashtag asylum is a right. We now continue our conversation with John

Washington. He's in Tucson, Arizona right near the border. He's a reporter for the

independent news outlet Arizona Luminaria and an author of the new book, The Case for Open Borders.

John, I wanted to... book, The Case for Open Borders.

...