Biden-Harris Administration Issues Three Executive Orders on Family Reunification, Regional Migration, and Legal Immigration

Today, President Biden signed three significant executive orders affecting the immigration system. The first creates a task force to reunite families separated at the border. The second reforms the asylum system at the border. The third calls for a full reevaluation of rules and regulations which the Trump administration implemented to make legal immigration more difficult. It also partially revokes and reevaluates the public charge rule, which imposed financial barriers to obtaining green card status. Please find the White House fact sheet here.

In more detail, today’s executive actions will:

• Create a task force to reunify families. The task force will work with key stakeholders and representatives of impacted families to find separated parents and children. The task force will report regularly to the President with recommendations to reunite families and prevent future separations. This Order revokes the Trump Administration’s Executive Order that permitted separating families at the Southern Border.
• Develop a three-part plan to address irregular migration across the Southern Border and create a humane asylum system. First, the Administration will implement a strategy to confront the factors that drive migrants from their homes. Second, the Administration will collaborate with regional partners to evaluate other countries’ capacity to provide for migrants closer to home. Finally, the Administration will ensure Central American migrants have access to legal avenues to the United States. The Executive Order directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to review the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program. The order also rescinds and directs agency review of Trump Administration policies that barred immigration across the Southern border.
• Re-establish a Task Force on New Americans and review Trump Administration policies. The order rescinds President Trump’s memorandum requiring family sponsors to repay the government if relatives receive public benefits, instructs agencies to review the public charge rule, and streamlines the naturalization process.

Contact our office at immigrationinfo@cornerlaw.com if you have any questions about President Biden’s executive orders on immigration.