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Thursday, January 21, 2021, 09:36
Biden rolls back Trump policies on wall, climate, health, travel
By Reuters
Thursday, January 21, 2021, 09:36 By Reuters

President Joe Biden signs his first executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on Jan 20, 2021, in Washington. (PHOTO / AP)

WASHINGTON - US President Joe Biden signed 15 executive actions shortly after being sworn on Wednesday, undoing policies put in place by his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, and making his first moves on the pandemic and climate change.

Signing several actions in front of reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon, Biden said there was “no time to waste” in issuing the executive orders, memorandums and directives.

Signing several actions in front of reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon, Biden said there was “no time to waste” in issuing the executive orders, memorandums and directives

“Some of the executive actions I’m going to be signing today are going to help change the course of the COVID-19 crisis, we’re going to combat climate change in a way that we haven’t done so far and advance racial equity and support other underserved communities” said Biden. “These are just all starting points”

Biden also signed a memorandum directing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the US attorney general to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protects migrants who came to the country as children from deportation, and reversed Trump’s executive order calling for stricter immigration enforcement away from the country’s international borders. Biden’s DHS also issued a memorandum calling for a 100-day moratorium on some deportations.

DHS also said it would end all enrollments in a controversial Trump program - known as the Migrant Protection Protocols - that forced more than 65,000 asylum seekers back to Mexico to wait for US court hearings. The release did not clarify what will happen to migrants currently in the program, many of whom have been stuck for months in squalid tent camps near the southwest border.

Biden has not yet laid out clear plans for a March 2020 order issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that allows officials to expel almost all border crossers. Since the order was put in place, around 380,000 people have been quickly sent to their home countries or pushed back to Mexico, according to US Customs and Border Protection data.

The Day One plans were just the start of a flurry of executive actions Biden would take soon after entering office, said his press secretary, Jen Psaki

The actions show that Biden is beginning his presidency with a sharp focus on immigration. 

The US president plans additional immigration moves soon."

Aides said the actions the Democratic president signed included a mask mandate on federal property and for federal employees, an order to establish a new White House office coordinating the response to the coronavirus, and halting the process of withdrawing from the World Health Organization.

READ MORE: Biden to mend US ties with World Health Organization

Biden signed a document to begin the process of re-entering the Paris climate accord and issued a sweeping order tackling climate change, including revoking the presidential permit granted to the contentious Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Among a raft of orders addressing immigration, Biden revoked Trump’s emergency declaration that helped fund the construction of a border wall and ended a travel ban on some majority-Muslim countries.

The Day One plans were just the start of a flurry of executive actions Biden would take soon after entering office, said his press secretary, Jen Psaki.

“In the coming days and weeks, we will be announcing additional executive actions that confront these challenges and deliver on the president-elect’s promises to the American people,” Psaki said.

ALSO READ: Trump says farewell at airbase send-off, leaves note for Biden

Further actions would include revoking the ban on military service by transgender Americans, and reversing a policy that blocks US funding for programs overseas linked to abortion.

On the economic front, Biden asked the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to extend a moratorium on evictions until the end of March, and the Department of Education to suspend student loan payments until the end of September.

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