Joe Biden, the 46th US President, took crucial actions immediately after his inauguration ceremony. He has lifted the immigration barriers.
According to Reuters, Joe Biden signed several executive orders on his first day as the 46th US President. He reversed many of former President Donald Trump‘s orders regarding immigrants.
Although the new orders will take months to get imposed, it can be called a good and vital step.
Joe Biden reversing Donald Trump’s actions
The new US President also sent a bill to Congress. It proposes opening a path to citizenship for many immigrants. They are currently living unlawfully in the United States. Joe Biden signed the new orders at a ceremony at the White House.
He also lifted the travel ban on several Muslim-majority and African nations. In addition to that, he also halted the U.S.-Mexico border wall. And he also reversed Trump’s order of counting illegal immigrants living in the country for congressional districts.
Moreover, Joe Biden also signed a memorandum to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. It protects those migrants who came to the U.S as children from deportation. And thus, the new President reversed another Trump order that called for strict immigration enforcement away from the nation’s international borders.
These first steps clearly show that Mr. Biden wants to focus a lot on immigration. And as a result, he’s also receiving a lot of praise from migrant advocates and several business groups.
The head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Myron Brilliant, said that the reversal of the travel ban would help “restore our credibility on the global stage.”
Meanwhile, the US’s ongoing travel restrictions will remain in action due to growing cases of the Coronavirus pandemic. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) informed on this on Wednesday.
Mr. President will now issue executive actions, on Jan. 29, to restore U.S. asylum protections. It will help strengthen refugee processing while also setting up a task force to reunite families that are currently separated by Trump’s border policies.
New President, new challenges
When it comes to the roadmap for Mr. Biden, he will try to emphasize a lot on immigration. Along with that, there are challenges regarding the economy and especially unemployment in the country.
Then there’s also the ambitious immigration bill that Joe Biden wants to get passed into law. It states that immigrants in the U.S. will receive a temporary status as of January first and meet some requirements. That will remain for five years before they get their green cards. And after three more years, they could apply for citizenship.
It will be interesting to see whether Congress passes this bill or not. Although Democrats have a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, a lack of bipartisan support could hamper this initiative because the Senate will be divided 50-50 with new Vice President Kamala Harris holding the crucial tie-breaking vote.
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