Biden s Executive Actions: President Unilaterally Changes Immigration Policy
By Robert Law
on March 15, 2021
Robert Law is the director of regulatory affairs and policy at the Center for Immigration Studies. He would like to thank Josh Timko for his extensive research and analysis that informed the substance of this Backgrounder on the Biden immigration executive actions.
President Biden issued over three dozen executive actions during his first month in office, many of them focused on immigration. Some of the immigration executive actions revoked Trump administration immigration policies and introduced sweeping new policies, while others were more messaging documents with little-to-no practical impact. While the pace of immigration-specific executive actions has slowed recently, it is expected that the Biden administration will continue to rely on executive actions as a tool to reshape immigration policy throughout his term. This
President Biden’s Immigration Executive Actions: A Recap
President Biden signs executive orders on immigration on Feb. 2, 2021, in the Oval Office of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)
In his first weeks in office, President Biden issued several executive actions focused on reevaluating and unwinding the panoply of protectionist immigration policies former President Trump set in place through executive branch action. Some actions, like the Task Force on the Reunification of Families, focus on repairing past harms. Others, like Biden’s executive order on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), are largely symbolic and serve as a clear repudiation of the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant agenda. While the executive actions are a meaningful first step, their scope is limited for a number of reasons.
Here s a comprehensive list of every executive order President Biden has signed so far
Since taking office on January 20, President Joe Biden has signed a slew of executive orders addressing the economy, civil rights, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and more. Biden has also taken steps to overturn key Trump initiatives, which his advisors have said will reverse the gravest damages done to the country by the Trump Administration.
Here s a comprehensive list of every executive order President Biden has signed so far, and what each means for the United States.
COVID-19 RELIEF
Jan. 20: Executive Order on Protecting Federal Workforce and Requiring Mask-Wearing: Requires compliance with coronavirus guidelines such as physical distancing and wearing a face mask while on federal property.
Biden Executive Order Gives Return to Normalcy for Cartel Human Smugglers, Says Fmr. Border Patrol Agent
4 Feb 2021
Over the last few weeks, the new Biden Administration has made clear that “Build Back Better” in terms of border security will entail more dismantling than building. On Tuesday, President Joe Biden revoked procedures designed to swiftly adjudicate asylum applications and end “catch-and-release.”
The “Executive Order on Creating a Comprehensive Regional Framework to Address the Causes of Migration, to Manage Migration Throughout North and Central America, and to Provide Safe and Orderly Processing of Asylum Seekers at the United States Border” immediately revokes the following:
The White House
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq., it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. For generations, immigrants have come to the United States with little more than the clothes on their backs, hope in their hearts, and a desire to claim their own piece of the American Dream. These mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters have made our Nation better and stronger.
The United States is also a country with borders and with laws that must be enforced. Securing our borders does not require us to ignore the humanity of those who seek to cross them. The opposite is true. We cannot solve the humanitarian crisis at our border without addressing the violence, instability, and lack of opportunity that compel so many people to flee their homes. Nor is the United States safer when resources that should be invested in policie