Biden’s First 100 Days: Immigration Watch

President Biden promised to tackle Immigration reform and overturn certain Trump administration policies during his first 100 days as President.  On January 20, 2021, President Biden issued a slew of Executive Orders, Proclamations, and Memorandums regarding immigration.  You can read about these orders, as well as other recent immigration-related policy changes below.

Executive Order 13993 of January 20, 2021:

President Biden revoked Former President Trump’s Executive Order 13768 of January 25, 2017, which had doubled down on the detention and deportation of undocumented persons with criminal histories, called for the hire of 10,000 additional immigration officers, and gave State and local law enforcement agencies powers to perform functions of immigration officers.  Most notably, however, this now-revoked Trump order had made sanctuary cities ineligible for Federal grants.

President Biden revoked Trump’s Executive Order 13780 of March 6, 2017, also known as the “Muslim Ban.”  Biden’s order will allow visa processing procedures to resume for people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

 President Biden revoked Trump’s Executive Order 13880 of July 11, 2019 and the Presidential Memorandum of July 21, 2020.  Biden’s order directs the Commerce Secretary to include all inhabitants, without regard to immigration status, in the censuses. 

Proclamation 10142 of January 20, 2021:

President Biden issued a proclamation declaring that the national emergency declared by Proclamation 9844, which Trump pushed to continue on January 15, 2021, is terminated.  Therefore, Trump’s proclamation can no longer be used to construct a wall at the southern border, and work on the wall shall be paused.  A plan will be devised to redirect funds and repurpose construction contracts.

Memorandum of January 20, 2021 - Reinstating Deferred Enforced Departures for Liberians:

President Biden deferred the removal of any Liberian national, or person without nationality who last resided in Liberia, who is present in the United States and who is under a grant of DED (Deferred Enforced Departure) as of January 10, 2021, with some exceptions.  This deferral will last until June 30, 2022.  These individuals will also be allowed continued employment authorization through June 30, 2022.

Memorandum of January 20, 2021 - Preserving and Fortifying Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA):

President Biden directed the DHS Secretary, with the Attorney General’s consultation, to take all appropriate actions to preserve and fortify DACA.

Memorandum of January 20, 2021 - Review of and Interim Revision to Civil Immigration Enforcement and Removal Policies and Priorities:

The Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Pekoske directed DHS components to conduct a review of immigration enforcement policies and to set interim policies for civil enforcement.  Beginning on January 22, 2021, DHS paused removals of certain noncitizens ordered deported for 100 days.

Executive Order 14005 of January 25, 2021:

President Biden issued this order, “Ensuring the Future Is Made in All of America by All of America’s Workers.”  Biden’s order revokes Trump’s Order 13858 of January 31, 2019, “Buy American Hire American,” along with similar Trump-era orders.

Memorandum from the Office of the Attorney General of January 26, 2021:

Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson rescinded the 2018 policy directive on “Zero Tolerance” for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, which led to thousands of family separations.

USCIS Notification of Preliminary Injunctions Against Fee Rule on January 29, 2021:

USCIS will no longer move forward with the August 3, 2020 “Fee Rule,” which was to increase USCIS fees an average of 20%, add new fees, and remove certain fee exemptions.  This rule also was on track to alter processing timelines and modify certain intercountry adoption processing.  On January 29, 2021, USCIS published this notification resulting in the non-implementation of increased fees at this time.

Department of Labor Proposed to Delay Effective Date of Final Rule on Computation of Prevailing Wage Levers on February 1, 2021:

For context, in October of 2020, The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor began issuing new interim final rules, which upended decades of requirements for the H-1B program.  On November 2, 2020, USCIS published a proposed rule that altered the way H-1B registrations are selected for the annual H-1B statutory cap.  This rule would replace the current random selection process with a wage-based selection process.  This would prioritize the selection of H-1B registrations based on employers who pay the highest wages.  This rule’s effective date was previously March 15, 2021.  However, on February 1, 2021, the Department of Labor proposed to delay the effective date of the final rule on computation of prevailing wage levels to May 14, 2021.  

Executive Order 14012 of February 2, 2021:

President Biden issued this order, “Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems and Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans.”  This order requires agencies to conduct a top-to-bottom review of recent regulations, policies, and guidance that have set up barriers to our legal immigration system.  It also orders immediate review of agency actions on public charge inadmissibility.  Public charge inadmissibility has been part of United States immigration law for more than 100 years, according to USCIS.  It deems any undocumented person who is likely to become a public charge as generally inadmissible to the United States and ineligible to become a permanent resident.

USCIS Policy Memorandum of February 3, 2021:

USCIS issued a policy memo that rescinds its 2017 policy memo, “Rescission of the December 22, 2000 ‘Guidance Memo on H-1B Computer Related Positions.” The “Guidance Memo on H-1B Computer Related Positions” considered the position of programmer to qualify as a specialty occupation, not including positions strictly involving the entering/reviewing of computer code for an employer whose business is not computer related.  Therefore, the position of programmer, with the noted exception, will be qualified as a specialty occupation.

Executive Order on Rebuilding and Enhancing Programs to Resettle Refugees and Planning for The Impact of Climate Change on Migration of February 4, 2021:

President Biden’s order revokes certain past presidential actions on refugee admissions and resettlement.  It also directs government agencies to take steps to improve the “efficacy, integrity, security, and transparency” of the United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) and to create a plan to address USRAP processing backlogs.  This order also established that there is to be a complete review of the Iraqi and Afghan Special Immigrant Visa programs.  Additionally, it calls for a report to be submitted on climate change and its impact on immigration, including forced migration, internal displacement, and planned relocation.  On a separate fact sheet, the White House stated that the order “will launch administrative reforms” to reach the “goal of increasing refugee admissions to 125,000 in the first full fiscal year of the Biden-Harris Administration.”

Executive Order 14010 of February 5, 2021:

President Biden issued the order, “Creating a Comprehensive Regional Framework to Address the Causes of Migration, To Manage Migration Throughout North and Central America, and To Provide Safe and Orderly Processing of Asylum Seekers at the United States Border.”  This order implements a comprehensive three-part plan for safe, lawful, and orderly migration across the southern border.  The executive order also calls for a review of the Migration Protection Protocols (MPP) program.  The MPP program, according to the Department of Homeland Security, applies to citizens and nationals of countries other than Mexico who arrive in the United States by land from Mexico.  The program returns these foreign nationals to Mexico rather than to their home country.  Executive Order 14010 also directs a series of actions to restore the United States asylum system, which was greatly altered by the Trump administration.

Executive Order 14011 of February 5, 2021:

President Biden issued the order “Establishment of Interagency Task Force on the Reunification of Families,” which established a task force to reunite families that remain separated.  It also revokes the Trump administration’s executive order that sought to justify separating children from their parents.

ICE Memorandum of February 18, 2021:

ICE Acting Director Tae D. Johnson established interim guidance to support the Interim Revision to Civil Immigration Enforcement and Removal Policies and Priorities issued by the Department of Homeland Security on January 20, 2021.  The guidance applies to all ICE directorates and program offices.  This memorandum will remain in effect until DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, sworn in on February 2, 2021, issues new guidelines.  ICE’s guidance, effective immediately, covers enforcement actions, custody decisions, execution of final orders of removal, financial expenditures, and strategic planning.  One of the measures in this memorandum states that ICE has authorization to apprehend presumed priority noncitizens and members of criminal gangs and transnational criminal organizations in at-large enforcement actions without advance approval.  ICE may also apprehend any presumed nonpriority noncitizens who are present during these at-large enforcement operations.  According to this memo, priority noncitizens are people presumed to be a threat to national security, border security, or public safety.  ICE will also focus on enforcing the deportation of noncitizens with final removal orders.

Presidential Proclamation Revoking Proclamation 10014 of February 24, 2021:

The Trump-era Presidential Proclamations from April 22 and June 22, 2020, had severely restricted the eligibility for foreign nationals abroad to obtain Immigrant and Non-Immigrant Visas until March 31, 2021, with limited exceptions, due to the novel Coronavirus outbreak. On February 24, 2021, the Biden Administration revoked the April 22 Presidential Proclamation and Section 1 of the June 22 Presidential Proclamation, which suspended Immigrant Visas and restricted entry of individuals with Immigrant Visas. Non-Immigrant Visas, however, are still severely restricted. Biden stated that the Proclamations he revoked harmed the U.S. and prevented family members of U.S. citizens and permanent residents from joining their families here. He also stated that Trump’s proclamations harmed U.S. industries that utilize immigrant talent, and it harmed individuals that were selected to receive the opportunity to apply for immigrant visas through the Fiscal Year 2020 Diversity Visa Lottery. Biden has not yet addressed how he is going to handle the restrictions on Non-Immigrant Visas moving forward. Visit our COVID-19 page for more information on which visas are currently restricted.

This post is for informational purposes only.  If you have any questions or are in need of legal advice, please contact us.

For more information visit https://www.aila.org/advo-media/issues/all/first-100-days.