Incoming US president Joe Biden plans to reverse the ‘Muslim ban’ as part of a flurry of executive orders as soon as he takes office this week.
The move will end the restriction Donald Trump imposed on immigration to the US from some Muslim-majority countries while he was in office.
Ahead of Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday, January 20, his chief of staff Ron Klain has presented a memo to senior members of the incoming president’s team.
The memo outlines a plan for Biden’s first 10 days in office. Aside from the lifting of the ‘Muslim ban’, Biden will also move to rejoin the Paris climate accord and make it mandatory to wear masks on federal property and during interstate travel.
Biden will also extend the pause on student loan repayments and extend actions that prevent evictions of those struggling during the pandemic.
‘These executive actions will deliver relief to the millions of Americans that are struggling in the face of these crises,’ Klain said in the memo.
‘President-elect Biden will take action — not just to reverse the gravest damages of the Trump administration — but also to start moving our country forward,’ he added.
Biden will also seek to provide a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants who are currently in the US illegally, according to the briefing, as reported by AP News.
Ali Noorani, president of the National Immigration Forum, told the news service that immigrants would be placed on an eight-year path. Biden will also place his focus on reuniting children separated from their families at the border.
Additionally, he will pass a $1.9 trillion stimulus plan to help the country’s economy recover from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. This will need to be passed by Congress for ‘full achievement’ of Biden’s goals, Klain wrote in the memo.
