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Previously published Feb 28. 2021
On January 20th, a new presidential term began in America as Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr., was inaugurated. On his first day as the 46th president, Biden sat in the Oval Office and got to work on fulfilling the promises he made during his inauguration speech, where he stated, “I ask every American to join me in this cause, uniting to fight the common foes we face: anger, resentment, hatred, extremism, lawlessness, violence, disease, joblessness, hopelessness.” Over the course of his first day, Biden worked to reverse many of the former president’s orders with his own. Biden prepared seventeen executive orders to address some critical issues today: race and LGBT equality, the pandemic, immigration reform, climate change, and the economy.
Race and LGBT Equality
In response to hate crimes, racism, and anti-LGBT sentiments, Biden promised an end to many of Trump’s executive orders. The 1776 Commission* and Executive Order 13950** on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping*** have been suspended. In addition to this, Biden reinforces Title VII*** of the Civil Rights Act more strictly in the upcoming presidency with a new executive order that reversed the diversity training ban and prohibits workplace, education, housing, and healthcare discrimination.
*The 1776 Commission supported Trump’s belief in “patriotic education”—education that glossed over slavery and other inequalities to alleviate emphasis on America’s wrongdoings.
**Executive Order 13950 on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping: This former executive order was centered on banning diversity training, training based on addressing race, gender, and general workplace discrimination, in federal institutions.
***Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: “Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.”
COVID-19
With more than 406,000 deaths and 24.5 million cases as of Inauguration Day, the United States continues to lead the world’s COVID-19 cases and deaths. To tame the rampaging COVID-19 crisis, Biden proposed a new plan in a series of executive orders and memoranda, making it mandatory to wear a mask on public transportation and federal lands and expanding access to COVID-19 treatments. Biden and his administration are advocating for a centralized response to control the pandemic. Many are skeptical about how access to the vaccines and better COVID-19 treatment will be administered. This skepticism has increased after Biden and some family members were seen not wearing masks at the Lincoln Memorial. However, some Americans are preserving hope for the eradication of the virus through Biden’s policies.
Immigration Reform
Biden issued an executive order for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). Started by former president Barack Obama, DACA ensures the protection of undocumented immigrant children from being deported. Biden canceled travel restrictions disproportionately affect specific individuals, especially people from Muslim-majority countries (although travel restrictions due to COVID-19 are still affected depending on countries with high COVID-19 cases). He created an immigration reform bill and pushed to introduce a citizenship acquisition path for illegal/undocumented immigrants.
Climate Change
As a strong advocate for climate change, Biden planned to have the United States rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and World Health Organization within 30 days. Also, Biden revoked the Keystone XL pipeline (KXL) permit, which allowed an oil pipeline to be built from Alberta to Nebraska. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a member of Canada’s Liberal Party, has favored the pipeline because of the economic self-sufficiency and job creation the pipeline would provide. KXL was mainly controversial because although it does harm the environment, it does cheapen American oil prices, help the economy, and make the country more self-sufficient. With much support from the Democratic Party, Biden decided that KXL was not an environmental risk that America should take. Biden re-imposed the stricter vehicle emissions guidelines set in place before Trump’s presidency and put a temporary moratorium on companies’ oil and natural gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to restore the quality of the environment before those leases.
The Economy
Biden is making plans to increase the amount of time before a person can be evicted to keep people in lockdown and alleviate the rent burden. Many low-income individuals are struggling with maintaining a stable job during the lockdown. He is also extending mortgage foreclosures. Generally, Biden plans on extending loan paybacks, as the pandemic resulted in a decrease of disposable income for many. Biden also halted the transfer of money from the Pentagon to the construction of Trump’s wall. This was done to make more money available for the execution of Biden’s new reforms.
Conclusion
Facing hate crimes, a worldwide pandemic, increased political polarity, and global destruction, America is undoubtedly in tumultuous times. It will be difficult to predict the future effect of this presidency. On his first day, Biden passed 17 executive orders. While some believe that these policies will advance American affairs, others are worried about the efficiency of the enactment of these policies.
Works Cited
