Biden signs executive orders and Harris swears in DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas
The Biden-Harris administration has been busy since Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 – and immigration has been one of its biggest priorities. On February 2, 2021 Biden signed additional executive actions to:
- Create a task force for reunifying families.
- Develop a strategy to address irregular migration from the Southern border and create a humane asylum system.
- Restore faith in the United States’ legal immigration system.
- Promote the integration of new Americans.
Biden signed this series of executive orders during a meeting in the Oval Office. Earlier in the day, Vice President Kamala Harris confirmed President Biden’s secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas. Born in Cuba and raised in Los Angeles, Mayorkas is the first Latino and first immigrant to serve as Homeland Security secretary. This appointment is symbolic of what we can expect from the Biden-Harris administration.
How Will Biden Reunify Families?
Biden will create a task force to work across the U.S. government and find parents and children separated by the Trump administration. The task force will advise the President and federal agencies on what steps they can take to reunify families and help ensure similar tragedies do not occur in the future. Biden’s executive order will also revoke the executive order that justified family separation under the Trump administration.
How Will Biden Address Irregular Migration and Create a Humane Asylum System?
With this new executive order, the Biden-Harris administration “will begin implementing a comprehensive three-part plan for safe, lawful, and orderly migration.” The administration will start by rescinding proclamations, rules, and guidance documents that close the U.S. border to asylum seekers and directing the secretary of Homeland Security to review the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program. Overall, the administration wishes to understand and confront the instability, violence, and economic insecurity that drives migrants from their homes; work with other countries to provide asylum closer to home for many migrants, and create legal avenues for migration within the United States.
How Will Biden Restore Faith in the American Immigration System?
The rhetoric under the Biden-Harris administration is vastly different from the one we saw under the Trump administration. According to the White House:
“President Biden believes that immigrants are essential to who we are as a nation and critical to our aspirations for the future.”
As such, Biden’s executive order will allow the White House to be more involved with promoting immigrant integration and inclusion. The Biden-Harris administration and its Task Force on New Americans will help ensure that our legal immigration system operates fairly and efficiently.
Under the executive order, agencies must “conduct a top-to-bottom review of recent regulations, policies, and guidance that have set up barriers to our legal immigration system,” and many of Trump’s unfair immigration memorandums will be rescinded.
What Biden’s Actions Mean for You
If you are one of the millions of people pursuing legal citizenship in the United States, Biden’s executive orders can only benefit your situation. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to keep up with all the changes. For this reason, you will need an experienced immigration attorney to help you navigate your case.
At Gardner Law, PLLC, our team has more than 15 years of combined legal experience, and we are passionate about helping you achieve your unique American dreams.
We will help ensure you understand your rights and legal options throughout the immigration process, and we share Biden’s commitment to new Americans from all walks of life.
For help with any immigration-related concern, please call us at (919) 836-5371 or contact us online today.
Our team is here to help you fulfill your dream.
