There’s a unique sort of bipartisan consensus right now in Washington. Republicans and Democrats in the Senate are reportedly close to reaching agreement on a bill—one that has been preapproved by the White House—that would grant the president authority to “shut down” the U.S.–Mexico border if daily attempted crossings by undocumented migrants reach a certain threshold. Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson says he won’t pass the bill, but his reasoning isn’t that it’s a bad idea. Instead, he argues that Biden actually already has the authority to order a shutdown. Johnson might also be feeling pressure from Donald Trump, who has said he doesn’t want Republicans to pass the bill because it would be a political “gift” to Biden and Democrats.

What all these positions presuppose, even while being in conflict with one another, is that if the president “shuts down” the border, it will reduce the number of attempted crossings by migrants and ameliorate what both parties describe as a chaotic, overwhelmed immigration system. But is that true? And what does it mean to “shut down” migration that is already unauthorized by definition? Is this bill going to give Joe Biden a dang magic wand? We spoke about these questions and others with Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director of the American Immigration Council—which, for the record, agrees that the current system needs a major overhaul. The interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Slate: Let’s start with the basics here. The problem everyone seems to agree on is that there are more migrants arriving in the U.S. to seek asylum protections than there are border officers, agents, and facilities to handle them?

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick: Right, and right now, considering eligibility for asylum is part of the process by which people can be deported. There is no basic authority that allows the president to simply skip asylum. When somebody crosses the border, they are inside the United States already—they have already “made an entry.” And in having made an entry, they can only be deported one of two ways.

The first way is called expedited removal. And the other is through the normal removal process, where somebody goes in front of an immigration judge and the judge issues a deportation order. But to deport someone, you need a removal order, whether through expedited removal or immigration court. And even expedited removal has the backstop protection of the “credible fear” interview process, in which........

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