Washington, Jun. 4, (dpa/GNA) – US President Joe Biden is planning to unveil an executive order to ramp up measures to prevent asylum seekers from entering via the country’s border with Mexico, according to media reports on Monday.

The president’s executive order foresees for the border to be closed to asylum seekers once more than 2,500 daily illegal crossings are recorded, US media outlets reported citing unidentified sources.

Once the number falls to under 1,500 crossings again the border could reportedly be reopened.

Biden is expected to present the plan on Tuesday and sign a corresponding executive order, the reports said.

As the number of daily illegal border crossings from Mexico currently exceeds 2,500, the border might be closed right after the president signs the order, according to the reports.

CNN said the wording of the decree, including the daily threshold of crossings triggering a border closure, might be subject to change ahead of publication on Tuesday.

According to the current plans, migrants could still request an appointment to present their asylum application.

Unaccompanied minors are to be exempt from the new rules, according to CNN.

With the controversial executive action, which would likely receive backlash from migration advocates, Biden is seen as attempting to make a statement in the ongoing presidential campaign. Migration is one of the key concerns of Donald Trump. The two are all but guaranteed to face off in the November election.

In the lead-up to the vote, Trump’s Republicans have accused Biden, a Democrat, of having lost control over the country’s southern border in light of high numbers of arrivals.

Mexico is a transit country on the route taken by many Latin Americans fleeing from violence, poverty and political chaos at home trying to reach the US. GNA