During his first day in charge of the United States Administration, Joe Biden signed the expected 17 decrees in the Oval Office. The movement aims to reverse the policies of its predecessor, Donald Trump, on issues such as climate change and the departure of the WHO, the protection of migrants, the management of the pandemic and racial justice in the country.
As a full declaration of intent, US President Joe Biden acted swiftly to dismantle the Trump Administration by signing 17 executive orders on Wednesday. A movement to end policies that, in the words of the leader’s advisers, have been a “major damage” to the nation.
Despite his conciliatory tone at the opening ceremony, in which Biden called for unity and commitment among all political forces, most of the decrees he affirmed are intended as countermeasures to the Trump era, including changing the management of the pandemic, invest in an environmental program and avoid the exit of the WHO, put an end to many anti-immigration policies and promote racial justice in the North American country.
A new vision on the pandemic
The leader signed an executive order in which he named Jeff Zients as the maximum coordinator in the country’s fight against Covid-19 and, according to the president, the one in charge of launching an “aggressive” response against the spread of the virus. The politician will oversee the supply, distribution and administration of vaccines, as well as the production of equipment and coronavirus testing.
With regard to the mask, Biden imposed a more severe decree regarding its use, although he did not make it mandatory throughout the country – since, if they did, they would surely appeal that decision in court. The president urged respect for social distancing and made the use of a mask mandatory in all federal facilities, within the framework of his campaign “100 days with a mask.”
Also, the now president suspended the departure of the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO), approved by Trump along with the suspension of funds for the organization.
Goodbye to the wall with Mexico and many anti-immigration measures
As promised, Biden issued a decree to protect 650,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the country still children, for which they are known as “dreamers.” Additionally, the measure also asks Congress to enact legislation that provides them with permanent immigrant status and paves the way for citizenship.
The Democrat also ordered the “immediate termination” of the construction of the famous wall with Mexico, a very symbolic policy with many followers during the electoral campaign of his predecessor Trump in 2016, and canceled the national emergency that the Republican had imposed to divert funds and thus finance its uprising.
It is widely known that Trump’s policy was characterized as “tough” on immigrants. In this regard, the new president issued two decrees in which he asks to review the priorities of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) when proceeding with the arrest of undocumented immigrants, as well as the inclusion of this segment of the population in the federal census.
In addition, Biden granted another legislative order with which he will relieve Liberian immigrants, at great risk of exclusion, extending until June 30, 2022 the suspension of deportations and work permits under a special program for refugees.
But the icing on the cake in new migration measures was the suspension of the “Muslim veto” by decree, a measure that Trump took to prohibit the entry into the country of travelers from 11 countries with Muslim majority – Eritrea, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania and Yemen. In principle, the former president wanted to veto entry to all Muslims, but later decided to adopt a “less extreme” stance.
The climate and ethical commitment
The most important climate action taken by Biden was to reincorporate the United States into the Paris Agreement, of which it will be a party again in 30 days. In 2019, Trump officially notified the United Nations that the United States was leaving the coalition of nearly 200 countries, which is working to move away from fossil fuels that contribute to global warming, such as coal, oil and natural gas.
“This third that I am going to sign while everyone is here is the pledge that we are going to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement as of today,” Biden told reporters before signing the act of the decree in the Oval Office.
It also announced the revocation of the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline – a symbol of the fight against the climate crisis – and the review of more than a hundred environmental decisions, such as the annulment of decisions to cut the budget of several national monuments and the re-establishment of a working group on the social costs of greenhouse gases.
Among the decrees this Wednesday, the new leader of the nation also dedicated to ending the 1776 Commission, created by Trump and that, according to experts and historians, distorted the history of slavery in the United States.
The president appointed Susan Rice, who is the head of his Council for Home Affairs, as the leader of a “strong and inter-institutional” effort to get federal agencies to make the “uprooting of systemic racism” a central element of their work.
I’m honored and excited to take on the challenges and seize the opportunities ahead. What a great day for America and our democracy!
To keep up with my work as Domestic Policy Advisor, please follow me at @ AmbRice46 #LetsGO
– Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) January 21, 2021
In line with the normalization of the LGTBQ collective, Biden signed an executive order, based on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prevents discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation or gender identity .
As a result of the economic crisis caused by the global pandemic, the former vice president with the Barack Obama administration opted for social measures such as stopping evictions until March 31 and student loan payments until September 30. . Although some progressive and Democratic groups in Congress pressured him to go much further and pay off up to $ 50,000 of student debt per person.
To “restore and maintain confidence in the Government,” the man from Pennsylvania decided that all positions of trust in the federal Government must sign an ethical commitment in which they will ensure that they do not work under personal interest.
Finally, against Trump’s last minute measures, the new president froze the implementation of all of them in order to review them carefully, and decide which ones to go ahead with and which ones not.
With EFE and local media
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