Currently, the United States’ immigration courts are facing a backlog of over three million cases, with the backlog steadily increasing in Washington State specifically over the past few years. Unfortunately, the allocation of resources to properly address this crisis is not being prioritized, and last week’s executive order does little to stem the tide of illegal immigration into our nation.

Last week, President Biden announced an executive order which, if enforced, would reject new asylum claims if Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encounters a daily average of 2,500 illegal migrants in a one-week period. Following two weeks of daily encounters averaging below 1,500 people, the border will reopen. While the administration is promoting this as a solution to our ongoing border crisis, this executive order will not mitigate the fact that millions of illegal immigrants will continue to flood our border.

This executive action effectively legitimizes illegal immigration and sets a precedent that the United States is comfortable allowing certain levels of illegal migration, which is not the example we should be setting. We are a nation of immigrants, but the legal immigration process must be the rule rather than the exception. In 2019, former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson stated that 1,000 apprehensions by CBP overwhelms the system. This order effectively hamstrings CBP until enough people break the law, incentivizing them to quickly cross to be part of the “permitted” 2,500 migrants per day that are allowed to stay. Even if implemented properly, this will still permit nearly one million new arrivals per year.

But wait, there’s more! The order is written to be unenforceable. It allows the Secretary of Homeland Security, who is already known to not enforce the law, to use his own discretion in issuing exceptions to the order, for things like “public safety” and “public health” interests. We know there is a humanitarian crisis that has come from the disaster at the border, and this order makes that crisis a reason for allowing more asylum claims under its authority. It sounds crazy, but it’s true, just take a look at Section 3 (b) of the Executive Order.

There is no doubt cartels will take full advantage of the carve-out in this executive order for unaccompanied alien children (UACs). This exemption means that any child under the age of eighteen without a parent or guardian already in the United States will be exempt from the closure of asylum claims. This only further enriches the cartels who will continue to charge exorbitant fees to traffic children across our borders while forcing them to act as drug mules.

Border security is national security, and if the federal government does not adopt a comprehensive approach to protecting our southern border, illegal migration rates will continue to skyrocket, drugs will pour across it, and the system will be overwhelmed. It is past time for this administration to reverse course and implement policies that will actually curtail the illegal immigration crisis—before it is too late.