WATCH: Biden announces new asylum restrictions

President Joe Biden announced new asylum restrictions at the U.S. southern border during a White House speech Tuesday in order to "help to gain control of our border" and "restore order to the process."

Starting Wednesday, when the number of encounters between ports of entry on the southern border hits "a 7-consecutive-calendar-day average of 2,500 encounters or more," the order is slated to go into effect, according to a proclamation announcing the executive action. Officials would lift the restrictions under the order two weeks after the encounter numbers reach 1,500 per day or less over a seven-day average.

Exceptions for migrants who would be granted asylum under the order include unaccompanied children, victims of human trafficking, those with valid visas or lawful permission to gain entry to the U.S., and those who are permitted to enter the U.S. "based on the totality of the circumstances, including consideration of significant law enforcement, officer and public safety, urgent humanitarian, and public health interests at the time of the entry or encounter," according to the proclamation.

The president said he wished for Congress to take meaningful legislative action to fix the nation's immigration system, but “Republicans left me no choice.”

A bipartisan border security deal in Congress fell apart earlier this year after former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee this year, urged GOP lawmakers to reject the bill.

“The border is not a political issue to be weaponized,” Biden said.

Tap the link below for more. Tim McPhillips, Dan Cooney and Yasmeen Alamiri produced and edited this post.

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