What’s going on with Biden’s latest announcement on the border and asylum? As this CNN article points out, it does appear to “mirror Trump.” That’s certainly rare in the annals of Biden’s executive orders, so what gives?:

The Biden administration released a new rule Tuesday that largely bars migrants who traveled through other countries on their way to the US-Mexico border from applying for asylum in the United States, marking a departure from decadeslong protocol.

The new 153-page proposed regulation, which could affect tens of thousands of people, is the most restrictive of a patchwork of policies put in place by the Biden administration to try and manage the US-Mexico border and is reminiscent of a Trump-era policy.

The proposed rule would presume asylum ineligibility and “encourage migrants to avail themselves of lawful, safe, and orderly pathways into the United States, or otherwise to seek asylum or other protection in countries through which they travel, thereby reducing reliance on human smuggling networks that exploit migrants for financial gain,” according to the text of the regulation.

Your guess is as good as mine about this, maybe better. Remember the outraged hue and cry when Trump instituted what seemed to be something similar?

So here are some hypotheses on Biden:

(1) It won’t be enforced and it won’t change anything. It’s just a way to take some talking points away from the right prior to the next election.

(2) It will be enforced – at least temporarily – and is just a way to take some talking points away from the right prior to the next election.

(3) Biden woke up from a deep deep sleep and believes he’s the Biden of forty years ago.

(4) The Biden administration and the Democrats have become aware that Hispanics are not quite as firmly in the Democratic pocket as previously thought, so maybe it’s time to have a mild and temporary slowdown of illegal immigration from that area.

(5) It’s a temporary response to the expiration of Title 42:

Administration officials on Tuesday rejected the comparison to the Trump administration, saying that it’s not a categorical ban on asylum and emphasizing efforts to expand access to legal pathways to the US, including a recently launched parole program for certain nationalities.

The proposed rule will be posted in the Federal Register for a 30-day public comment period and likely take effect in May, when a pandemic-era border restriction, known as Title 42, is set to expire. The rule is also expected to last for two years.