Brandon Livesay
US reporter

We're wrapping up our live coverage of US President Joe Biden's announcement of his executive action aimed at curbing migrant arrivals on the US border.

The policy will stop migrants who cross unlawfully from receiving asylum, and will make it easier for immigration officers to remove people in the US who are there illegally.

The action takes affect when the southern border is "overwhelmed", but the White House's description did not come with any hard numbers that defined what an overwhelmed border would be.

Biden's announcement was met with criticism from Donald Trump's campaign, and some of Trump's key Republican allies.

It was also met with criticism from some Democrats and migrant advocacy groups.

And in Mexico, there was uncertainty of what the executive action could mean for the border cities where many try to cross into the US.

For further reading, I can recommend this article from my colleague Bernd Debusmann Jr, which looks at how Trump and Biden's border policies compare.

And this article is the full wrap of today's announcement.

Ana Faguy, Rachel Looker and Bernd Debusmann Jr have contributed to this coverage. And this page was edited by Caitlin Wilson and myself.

Thanks for joining us.

Rachel Looker
Reporting from Capitol Hill

I've been on Capitol Hill today in Washington DC, where several lawmakers have expressed concerns over President Joe Biden’s executive order on the border.

Democrat congressman Ro Khanna of California said he has concerns about the change of standard on asylum, and argued the right approach would be increasing funding for border agents or immigration judges.

“I think this is a country that has always stood for those who are fleeing persecution,” he told BBC News.

In the Senate, Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, called Biden’s executive order a “joke” and a “window dressing”.

And Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene also took aim at Biden.

“This is something that people care about and Joe Biden trying to act as if he’s going to do something about border security with his executive orders is pretty much a slap in the face to everyone,” she said.

Leire Ventas
BBC Mundo, Los Angeles

In Mexico, it is probably among the local authorities in border states where Joe Biden's executive action has generated the most expectation.

And while waiting for more clarity on figures, and a response from the Mexican federal government, they have shown concern about the impact the measure might have on their resources.

“If the action becomes effective once the number of asylum seekers exceeds 2,500 a day, what will happen to the rest?” asks Enrique Lucero, municipal director of Migrant Assistance in Tijuana.

Tijuana is a Mexican city that borders with San Diego in California, and which this year became the main point of irregular crossings on the entire border.

“On Monday, over 3,500 undocumented encounters were registered along the border. In that case, what will happen to the 1,000 migrants who have already crossed? Where will they be returned? What are they going to do with asylum seekers who are not Mexican, but have arrived from China, India, or Turkey?” Lucero asks.

Citizens from more than 130 countries pass through the Mexican state of Baja California with the aim of crossing into the United States. In Tijuana there are 33 shelters with a maximum occupancy of 5,500.

“Right now, they shelter 3,500 people, so if this measure goes into effect immediately, in a few days they’d be overcrowded, and we’d start seeing people on the streets, sleeping in tents.”

We've heard from about a dozen speakers outside Capitol Hill in Washington DC, many of whom were from migrant advocacy groups as well as some members of congress.

They spoke against US President Joe Biden's executive action announcement for the US-Mexico border.

Many of the speakers chastised the president for replicating Trump-era policies.

A broad theme from this group was the president needed to fix a "broken immigration" system, and they want him to advocate for humane reforms.

How Biden's border policy is being received in Mexicopublished at 22:40 British Summer Time 4 June

22:40 BST 4 June

Daniel Pardo Vegalara
BBC Mundo, Mexico City

The executive order was announced just a day after the elections in Mexico, so it hasn't yet generated much reaction here.

The president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said in his daily press conference that people should not get too concerned as a border closure is "impossible", since there are too many economic and cultural interactions that cannot be interrupted.

He has largely implemented a pragmatic position towards the US in the last six years, aiming at keeping a fluid relationship without putting obstacles to those Mexicans who depend on the border for their daily life.

The next president, his ally Claudia Sheinbaum, is likely to keep that line - which also looks to tackle the sources of migration in other countries as well as giving legal status to those millions of Mexicans who live in the US illegally.

Although many migrants who might be at the border now are likely to be impeded from continuing their journey, Joe Biden's executive order has not had a national reverberation and does look, from here, as an internal move aiming to seduce some US voters.

The press conference is still ongoing as various organisation members each take a turn to speak to the media. While that's going on (and a reminder you can watch it live by pressing play at the top of this page), let's quickly check in on the Biden-Harris campaign.

After Biden's announcement, his presidential campaign issued a statement which took aim at Donald Trump.

"The American people demand solutions to fix our broken immigration system, but at every step of the way, Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans have made clear they only want chaos and partisan politics as usual," Kevin Munoz, a Biden-Harris spokesperson said in the statement.

Guerline Jozef, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, is up next at the press conference (which you can watch by pressing the play button at the top of this page).

She says today's executive order is "heart-breaking" and "painful".

"Our government continues to use the same barbaric policies" she claims, explicitly calling out Title 42 - a Covid-era rule that allowed for the rapid expulsion of many illegal migrants and which ended last year.

"This cannot be the new reality," Jozef says.

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal is now speaking.

She says "I'm profoundly disappointed" and calls Biden's action a "step in the wrong direction".

The ranking member on the Subcommittee for Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement then says: "we have a broken immigration system".

She says they will continue to fight until they get "humane reform" for migrants.

Texas Representative Greg Casar starts the press conference.

Addressing the cameras both in English and Spanish he says "we are all better off" with immigrants in this country.

Casar says he believes US President Joe Biden is responding to Republican lines of attack with today's announcement, and he calls it "unfortunate".

He says Biden's policies are "Republican-lite policies".

Rachel Looker
Reporting from Capitol Hill

We are about to hear from immigration advocates who will be joined by some members of Congress.

The group are against US President Joe Biden's executive action on the US border, and in a joint statement called it "harmful and xenophobic".

They will hold a press conference at 21:30 BST (16:30 ET), which you can watch live by pressing the play button at the top of this page.

Members from the non-government group Casa have gathered ahead of the press conference with signs reading “#Save Asylum” and “Together We Are Home”.

“The people, united, we’ll never be divided,” they chant.

Does today's announcement leave you with questions about the US border crisis?

For some further insight, you can listen to BBC Radio 4's The Briefing Room and this episode from May titled: How does America fix its border crisis?

The Briefing Room is available on BBC Sounds or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Washington

Image source, Getty Images

With immigration a top issue for November’s US election, Donald Trump has laid out, in broad strokes, radical changes he wants to make if he returns to the Oval Office.

Trump has vowed to carry out the "largest deportation operation" in US history to remove undocumented migrants already in the country. To do so, he has said he will use the National Guard, challenging legal limits on the use of US military forces to enforce domestic laws.

Additionally, Trump has repeatedly promised on “day one” to sign an executive order ending “birthright citizenship”, a principle that says anyone born on US soil is automatically a US citizen, irrespective of their parents’ immigration status. Such a move would almost certainly face intense legal challenges here in the US.

Trump has also vowed to deny entry to "Marxists" and "communists" - although it is unclear how that would be determined - as well as re-start the now-defunct “Remain in Mexico” policy that allows the US to force would-be asylum seekers to remain outside US borders and reinstate policies that allow for rapid deportations.

Experts have warned, however, that his potential border policies would be difficult to implement and would be subject to legal challenges.

Camilo Gomez
BBC Monitoring, Miami

The new stronger restrictions against migrants announced by US President Joe Biden in his executive order quickly made headlines and dominated TV news bulletins south of the border, especially in Mexico - where media outlets called the moves among the toughest seen in recent years.

Many of the reports linked the measures to Biden's ongoing political battle against Donald Trump ahead of the November US election.

"This is one of the harshest immigration measures by the Biden government," said one announcer on Mexico's Excelsior TV.

Echoing this, daily El Sol de Mexico, external was running the prominent headline: "Biden signs order that will close the frontier with Mexico and limit asylum requests even more".

The newspaper added: "It is one of the toughest immigration measures that the US government has implemented and it comes into effect today".

In Brazil too, the Biden announcement was making news. Major TV channel Globonews was getting live updates from its correspondent in Washington on the US measures.

The Globo Group's online news website G1 called, external the move by Biden an "aggressive shift" in US immigration policy.

"The measure, the harshest against immigrants of the most recent [US] Democratic governments, is seen as an attempt by Biden to garner more votes from an electorate unhappy over the recent record entries of migrants into the country," G1 added.

Figures show migrant crossing routes shifting fastpublished at 20:46 British Summer Time 4 June

20:46 BST 4 June

Emma Vardy
Reporting from Los Angeles

When border security measures are strengthened, people smugglers quickly adapt their tactics.

For example, Texas had a large decrease in border apprehensions over the past year, after Mexican authorities tightened security and the Texas governor clamped down on crossings.

Figures from the US Customs and Border Protection show just 8,000 apprehensions in the Rio Grande Valley in April, compared with 37,000 during the same period last year.

But as migrant routes shifted, illegal crossings in Arizona increased. This fiscal year, arrests in the city of Tucson have often been more than doubled or tripled compared with the same time in 2023.

California is now the state with the busiest border for illegal entries, overtaking both Texas and Arizona.

In April, San Diego had 37,370 apprehensions at the border, 85% higher than in April 2023.

The United Nations has commented on the new US immigration announcement, saying it was aware a new policy has been in the works.

"I know that it was just announced, so we will have a look at that," Florencia Soto Niño, associate spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said.

"We reiterate that seeking asylum is a fundamental human right, and access to asylum for those in need is paramount."

"And any person who claims to have a well-founded fear of being persecuted in their country of origin should have access to safe territory and have this claim assessed before being subject to deportation or removal."

Image source, Reuters

If you're just joining us, here's a recap of US President Joe Biden's new executive action:

• Biden announced a new policy that will limit the number of people able to enter the US and request asylum, and make it easier for immigration officers to remove people who are in the US illegally
• The new policy will be in effect "when high levels of encounters at the Southern Border exceed our ability to deliver timely consequences", the White House said
• It will not be a permanent policy and is only initiated when border operations are "overwhelmed", according to the Biden administration

• In his announcement, Biden also criticised Republicans in Congress who abandoned a border deal earlier this year to stand alongside former president Donald Trump, who criticised the deal at the time.
• Trump's campaign has hit out at Biden's latest executive action, saying it is political
• Migrant advocate groups have also been critical of Biden's announcement and one organisation has already flagged it intends to take legal action against the policies

Stay with us from more updates.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Washington

Later today, several prominent immigration advocate organisations and Democratic lawmakers have announced they will gather to speak out against the Biden administration's new executive actions.

Among those slated to speak at the event on Capitol Hill are representatives Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Pramila Jayapal, as well as speakers from Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, National Immigration Law Center and similar organisations.

In a statement, the group of lawmakers and activists called President Biden's actions "harmful and xenophobic".

"We want President Biden to hear us loud and clear: This is not the immigration policy that our country needs," the statement added. "It violates human rights. It goes against American values of welcome."

"It is not a solution for the challenges we face at our border. He should reverse the action immediately and work to expand access to lawful pathways and restore access to asylum."

Brandon Livesay
US reporter

President Biden used the end of his speech to differentiate himself from his political opponent, Donald Trump.

Biden says he would never separate children from their families at the border, a reference to incidents that happened under the Trump administration.

"The Statue of Liberty is not some relic of American history, it stands for who we are as the United States... I will never demonise immigrants," Biden said.

"I'll never refer to immigrants as poisoning the blood of this country," Biden then said.

In October of 2023, Trump said immigrants were "poisoning the blood of our country" during an interview with news outlet The National Pulse.

Both men have been highly critical of each other's immigration comments, and the issue is shaping up as major topic for voters in the November presidential election.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Washington

Image source, Getty Images

Biden also took the opportunity to directly address those he says believe the new executive actions are "too strict" - which has today included a number of Democratic lawmakers, human rights organisations and immigration advocates.

"I say to you: be patient," Biden said. "We're wearing thin right now. Doing nothing is not an option."

Biden added that the US must "act" and be "consistent with both our law and our values".

"Americans will take the steps today, not to walk away from who we are as Americans," he added. "[But] to make sure we preserve who we are for future generations to come."

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Washington

In his remarks, Biden praised Mexico's government for its efforts to stop the flow of migrants before they arrive at the US southern border.

Migrant detentions at the US-Mexico border have fallen steeply in recent months, largely due to the Mexican efforts.

"Due to the arrangements [with Mexico]... the number of migrants coming to our shared border unlawfully had dropped dramatically," Biden said.

Biden singled out Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador for praise, and said he would continue to work with Mexico's president-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum

Experts have said they believe that the recent reduction in border crossings is only temporary and ultimately unsustainable.