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Joe Biden has formally reversed a series of executive actions by Donald Trump, including a proclamation blocking many green card applicants from entering the United States.
Trump issued the ban last year, saying it was necessary to protect U.S. workers amid the high unemployment rates caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Biden dismissed that reasoning in a proclamation on Wednesday to repeal the visa ban. The president said it had prevented family reunification in the United States and harmed American businesses.
Other actions the president overturned included one attempting to cut funding for several cities that Trump had considered “lawless” and “anarchist jurisdictions,” and another requiring federal buildings to be in a classic aesthetic. are designed.
The turnarounds come as the new president tries to continue with his own agenda and undo important aspects of his predecessor’s legacy. Since taking office last month, Biden has rescinded dozens of Trump orders and issued dozens more of his own.
Immigrant lawyers had been pushing in recent weeks for him to lift the visa ban, which was due to expire on March 31. Biden enforced a different ban on most foreign temporary workers.
Curtis Morrison, a California-based immigration attorney representing people subject to the ban, said Biden will now have to address a growing backlog of applications that have stalled for months as the pandemic has shut down most of the State Department visa processing. The process could potentially take years, he said.
“It’s a backlog that Trump has created,” Morrison said. “He broke the immigration system.”
The latest string of recalls focused on a slew of issues, including a few that Trump signed in office in his final months.
Trump released a memorandum in September seeking to identify municipal governments that allow “anarchy, violence and destruction in American cities.” The memorandum followed protests over the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police. The Justice Department identified New York City, Portland, Oregon, and Seattle as three cities whose federal funding could be cut.
Those cities, in turn, have filed a lawsuit to invalidate the designation and repel the Trump administration’s efforts to withhold federal dollars.
Pete Holmes, the Seattle city attorney, welcomed Biden’s withdrawal, saying he was “glad this nonsense was cleared from the pile.”
Another reverse order included an order issued by Trump in his waning days requiring federal buildings to revert to a more classical style of architecture. The memorandum added that architects should look to “America’s beloved landmark buildings” such as the White House, the Capitol, the Supreme Court, the Treasury Department and the Lincoln Memorial for inspiration.
Biden also rescinded a 2018 order calling on the heads of government agencies to review welfare programs – such as food stamps, Medicaid, and housing assistance – and strengthen job requirements for certain recipients.