Joe Biden signs orders to reunite families and undo Donald Trump's immigration policies

US President Joe Biden on February 2 signed three executive orders to address asylum processing at the US-Mexico border and legal immigration system in a bid to undo former US President Donald Trump’s policies. Biden has prioritised creating a special task force to reunify the families, who were separated at the southern border under the previous administration’s “zero-tolerance policy”. While calling the prior policies “moral failure and national shame” the newly minted President said that his administration is committed to remedying the “awful harm” the Trump administration inflicted on families. 

Biden said, “With the first action today, we're going to work to undo the moral and national shame of the previous administration that literally, not figuratively, ripped children from the arms of their families, mothers, and fathers at the border with no plan, none whatsoever, to reunify the children, who are still in custody, and their parents”.

The US president added that the second executive order he signed will address the root causes of migration to the US southern border. The third order directs a full review of the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Biden signed orders on family separation, border security and legal immigration, bringing to nine the number of executive actions on immigration during his first two weeks in office. 

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Biden’s crackdown on Trump’s policies 

Biden’s Tuesday action has jump-started his ambitious pro-immigrant agenda that seeks to erase Trump’s restrictive policies on legal and illegal immigration. The White House had said that the situation at the border will not transform overnight, due in large part to the damage done over the last four years. However, they also added that the President is committed to an approach that keeps the country safe, strong and prosperous and that also aligns with US’ values. 

Meanwhile, Biden has made immigration a top priority. He has already issued an executive order revoking the Muslim ban. He has also unveiled a plan to give farmworkers permeant residency and a way for Dreamers to have a pathway to citizenship. In order to modify Trump’s stringent immigration rules, Biden not only halted the construction of the US-Mexico border wall but also reversed plans to exclude people in the country illegally from the 2020 census. Also on his first day in office, Biden proposed legislation to give legal status and a path to citizenship to everyone in the country who doesn't have it. 

(With inputs from ANI) 

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