WASHINGTON— Today, President Joe Biden signed a series of executive actions after his inauguration. The orders are aimed at immediately addressing the myriad of issues facing our nation by tackling the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our health and economy, addressing racial equity and immigration, and renewing our commitment to protecting our environment.
“Despite the darkness and horrors of the four years of a Trump Presidency, President Biden is taking action on his first day in office to move us back into the light,” said Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva. “These are bold initiatives that will reverse some of Trump’s most egregious actions and help set us on a better path. It’s not just about undoing Trump’s damage, but moving our country forward.”
President Biden’s executive actions on the COVID-19 pandemic will extend the eviction and foreclosure moratorium, pause student loan payments, and reengage with the World Health Organization.
“Our families, workers, and small businesses continue to face incredible hardship as the COVID-19 pandemic rages,” continued Rep. Grijalva. “By extending these critical provisions to help working families, President Biden is giving a lifeline to our families and workers. He is taking immediate action to reverse the course of this pandemic by creating a Response Coordinator position to overhaul our COVID response, which up to this point has been fragmented, inconsistent and cost us 400,000 lives. In the meantime, I’ll be working with Congress on a comprehensive relief package that gets direct aid to those who need it the most—including border communities—while building a robust vaccine distribution program to help us get back to normal.”
New executive actions on immigration will officially restore the DACA program, revoke all iterations of the Muslim Ban, repeal Trump’s executive order on interior enforcement, and end the national emergency that Trump used to justify unlawfully taking money from military accounts to construct his border wall.
“These actions are important first steps to right the cruelty that was the cornerstone of all of Trump’s immigration actions,” continued Rep. Grijalva. “Restoring DACA, ending a racist Muslim Ban, and stopping ICE’s reign of terror in our communities are critical foundations for creating an immigration system that puts families and humanity first. While ending the national emergency at the Southern border is important, President Biden must keep his promise and ensure that not another foot of border wall is constructed under his watch. This includes a complete moratorium on construction and a cancellation of construction contracts. The voices of border residents should be at the center of our border policy.”
New environmental executive orders will begin the process for the United States to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement and reverse the previous President’s anti-environmental policies.
“President Biden’s executive orders today show just how much damage Republicans in Washington did to the planet during the Trump administration and how much work lies ahead to advance conservation and environmental justice,” continued Rep. Grijalva. “Rejoining the Paris Accords, rolling back some of the most egregious Trump-era giveaways and starting new federal equity efforts all put people over polluters, which is going to be a theme with this administration. The clearest mandate President Biden has is to save our planet for the future and offer good paying jobs that sustain our world rather than destroy it, and these first orders put us on our way to building a truly pro-worker, pro-family, pro-environment economy.”
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