U.S. Temporarily Closes Mexico Border to Asylum Seekers

The United States will temporarily close its Mexico border to asylum seekers, as President Joe Biden tries to neutralize his political weakness on migration ahead of November's election battle with Donald Trump.

The 81-year-old Democrat signed a long-awaited executive order taking effect at midnight to "gain control" of the southern frontier with Mexico, after record numbers of illegal border crossings sparked concerns among voters.

"I've come here today to do what the Republicans in Congress refuse to do -- take the necessary steps to secure our border," Biden said in a brief address at the White House, flanked by officials from border states.

Biden's executive order bars migrants who enter the US illegally from claiming asylum when numbers surge past 2,500 in a day -- a threshold that has already been passed. It also makes it easier to deport people back to Mexico.

The curbs will remain in place until numbers fall back down below 1,500 illegal crossings a day.

Biden came under fire from all sides for the policy shift, which uses the same law that Trump once employed to ban migrants from Muslim countries when he was president.

US Republicans immediately slammed the move as too little -- while rights groups said they would go to court to stop the most drastic migration policy of any Democratic president for decades.

The UN refugee agency said it was "profoundly concerned" by Biden's measures.

Trump -- whose signature policies included a border wall that also failed to tackle the problem -- accused his rival of having surrendered the border to illegal immigration.

Under Biden, illegal crossings of the 1,900-mile border have surged to record levels, rising to a monthly peak of around 300,000 -- 10,000 a day -- in December.

Most are from Central America and Venezuela as they flee poverty, violence and disasters exacerbated by climate change.