BARELY 24 hours in his presidency, Joe Biden, United States 46th president, has reversed the discriminatory immigration policies of Donald Trump, his predecessor, which banned immigrants from Nigeria and 11 other countries from entering the US.
Trump had, in a 2017 executive order, banned citizens from Nigeria, Chad, Eritrea, Sudan, Tanzania, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar, among others, from entering the US. He had erroneously classified all the 12 countries, including Nigeria, as ‘Muslim countries.’
However, Biden, who was sworn in on Wednesday, in his first day as president, reversed the policies.
He signed 17 executive orders and two action plans before the end of his first day in office. On policy concerning the control of COVID-19 in the US, Biden made it mandatory for all Americans to wear face masks in all federal buildings and during inter-state travel.
In his statement, Biden reiterated his stance to reporters that, “It’s requiring, as I said all along, where I have authority, mandating masks be worn, social distancing be kept on federal property.”
He also reversed Trump’s policies on COVID-19 and climate change, ordering that the United States re-join the Paris Climate Change Agreement and the World Health Organisation (WHO), which Trump taunted.
He directed the Customs and Immigration to reverse actions which would cause family separation.
The president also halted the US- Mexico border wall construction project by Trump, targeting two other orders to provide succour for American citizens who lost their jobs as a result of the coronavirus.
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In his quest to make every American citizens equal, Biden signed an order to address racial disparities and inequality within the US government and its operations.
He directed the federal bureaucracy to review every clause seeking to isolate some groups based on racial inclination, particularly in terms of resource allocations.
By this action, the 1776 Commission which the Trump administration signed into law last September was dissolved.
Another order signed by Biden was for the protection of citizens from sexual discrimination in the workplace and the protection of the LBGTQ Americans.
He promised to roll out up to 53 orders in the next 10 days of his stay in office.
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