Story by Ashley Barrientos / Lifestyles Editor
Cover photo designed by Toriana Williams / News Editor
Joe Biden bolstered his presidential campaign with promises to reverse Trump’s anti-immigration legacy. Since taking office, Biden has signed off on eight executive actions pertaining to U.S. immigration reform.
On Jan. 20, only hours after being sworn in as president, he signed five executive actions.
The first was an executive order that ended Trump’s discriminatory travel ban on Muslim-majority countries: he developed a proposal that aims to remedy any consequences and ramifications caused by the bans, including aiding those who had visas denied during the ban.
The Biden administration immediately began renewing the visa acquisition for countries affected by the ban.
Additionally, he extended the Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) program that protected roughly 4,000 Liberians with a protected immigration status in the U.S.
Biden has also stated his support for the preservation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that Trump had unsuccessfully attempted to shut down. The program allows the acquisition of work visas and deportation protections for those brought to the U.S. as children without any legal documentation.
Construction of the southern border wall has also stopped under Biden’s recent authority. Funds for this project have been redirected to other projects as Biden claims to value a humane and competent immigration system.
Biden’s predecessor was known for signing an order deeming “sanctuary cities”– referring to jurisdictions refusing to comply with immigration enforcement– as ineligible for federal grants. Biden reversed this defunding of sanctuary cities on Jan. 20 as well.
On Feb. 2, he signed off on three executive actions.
The first was an executive order that would make obtaining student visas easier for international students. Additionally, those with work visas have a greater change of obtaining permanent residency under this order. This is in line with one of Biden’s key campaign promises on immigration, as this order aims to make access to the legal immigration process easier.
As an attempt to mend the issue of the significantly high migration influx from Central America, Biden has also ordered U.S. agencies to solve and identify the causes of the surge from this specific region. The order also seeks to safely process refugees and asylum seekers.
Most recently, the Biden administration has established a task force focusing on reunifying families that were separated at the US-Mexico border.
More actions centered around immigration reform are expected from Biden later on in his presidential term as well.
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