President Joe Biden is facing backlash for repeating his administration’s admonition that immigrants and asylum seekers should not attempt to enter the U.S.

“They should not come,” Biden said at a CNN town-hall-style meeting Thursday, echoing what Vice President Kamala Harris told migrants during a trip to Guatemala last month.

The White House’s attempted deterrence is not only impractical but also ineffective as a policy, said Katharina Obser, the acting director of the migrant rights and justice program at Women’s Refugee Commission.

In addition to HuffPost, this article appeared in Yahoo! News Singapore.

Learn more about Katharina Obser’s work at WRC.