Biden expands quick bid to undo Trump’s immigration policies

Biden administration on Tuesday anunced steps to address harm to thousands of families that were separated at U.S.-Mexico border, expanding efforts to quickly undo relentless changes to immigration policy over last four years. President Joe Biden planned to sign orders on family separation, border security and legal immigration, bringing to nine number of executive actions on immigration during his first two weeks in office. Details were thin, but moves aim to reverse many of former President Donald Trump's policies to deter immigration, both legal and illegal.

Alejandro Mayorkas, whose mination as Homeland Security secretary awaits Senate confirmation, will lead a task force on family separation, focused largely on reuniting parents and children who remain apart. It is unclear how many, but about 5,500 children have been identified in court documents as having been separated during Trump's presidency, including about 600 whose parents have yet to be found by a court-appointed committee.

review of border security includes a policy to make asylum-seekers wait in Mexican border cities for hearings in U.S. immigration court. It is a step toward fulfilling a campaign pledge to end Remain in Mexico policy, kwn officially as Migrant Protection Protocols, which enrolled nearly 70,000 asylum-seekers since it began in January 2019.

White House said it will “create a humane asylum system” by rescinding or reconsidering Trump policies that caused “chaos, cruelty and confusion.” It warned that it will take time, which may cause grumbling among some pro-immigration advocates.

“ situation at border will t transform overnight, due in large part to dam done over last four years.” White House said in a statement. “But President is committed to an approach that keeps our country safe, strong, and prosperous and that also aligns with our values.”

Roberta Jacobson, a top Biden aide on border issues, asked Spanish-langu media on Friday to discour audiences from coming to U.S. border. “It is t moment," she said in Spanish, adding that journey was “very dangerous, and we are in middle of creating a new system.”

White House will also do a “top-to-bottom review of recent regulations, policies, and guidance that have set up barriers to our legal immigration system.” It will include a review of Trump's “public charge rule,” which makes it more difficult for people who use government benefits to obtain green cards.

moves demonstrate that, just as Trump remade immigration policies from White House, Biden can undo m with stroke of a pen — some more easily than ors. On his first day in office, Biden halted work on a border wall with Mexico, lifted a travel ban on several predominantly Muslim countries and reversed plans to exclude people in country illegally from 2020 census. He also ordered efforts to preserve Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program kwn as DACA, which has shielded hundreds of thousands of people who came to U.S. as children from deportation.

More lasting changes must pass Congress, a daunting job that Trump and his predecessors Barack Obama and George W. Bush failed to achieve. Also on his first day in office, Biden proposed legislation to give legal status and a path to citizenship to everyone in country who doesn't have it — an estimated 11 million people.

Biden promised far-reaching changes on immigration during his campaign, but it was unclear how quickly he would tackle lightning-rod issue. His first-day actions delighted and surprised many pro-immigration advocates who are w being asked for patience. It is unclear when Biden will lift bans on many temporary work visas and green cards that took effect after coronavirus pandemic struck or when he will stop allowing authorities to immediately expel people at border on public health grounds without an opportunity to seek asylum.

Esr Olavarria, deputy director of White House Domestic Policy Council for immigration, said at a U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting last month that an executive order aimed at “restoring sanity at U.S.-Mexico border” would end Remain in Mexico policy and agreements that Trump administration struck with Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras for U.S. to reject asylum applicants and instead send m to those Central American countries with an opportunity to seek protection re. Olivarria told mayors to expect an order that restores U.S. refugee resettlement program after dramatic cuts under Trump but that measure was t included in Tuesday's anuncements.

(Im Credit: AP)