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President Joe Biden signed several executive orders Tuesday to combat several of the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policies, including introducing a task force Tuesday to reunify families and signing an executive order that reviews the “Migrant Protection Protocols.â€
The task force, which will be led by the secretary of Homeland Security, will work to identify the children and parents or guardians who were separated at the border, facilitate and enable reunification of children with their families, and then provide a report to the president on recommendations to ensure that the federal government does not have policies in place that separate families, senior administration officials said.
“I’m not making new law,” Biden said in the Oval Office as he signed the executive orders. “I’m eliminating bad policy.”
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There are still at least 628 parents who were separated from their children at the border that are still missing as of December. Former President Donald Trump’s administration had a “zero tolerance†policy that separated children and their parents or guardians at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, will chair the task force. Mayorkas was confirmed as DHS Secretary Tuesday, making him the first immigrant and first Latino to lead the department.
The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for counterterrorism, cybersecurity, border security, enforcement of the United States’ immigration laws and more.Â
The task force, which will be comprised of government officials such the secretaries of State and Health and Human Services, will also consult and have input from individuals impacted by the policies.
“The biggest challenge faced by the task force is continuing to identify the children and families that continue to be separated and then making recommendations to finally unite them,†senior officials said.
Biden also signed an executive order that will review the Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP.
The program forced migrants seeking asylum to wait in Mexican border cities while waiting to plead their case before a judge. While Biden’s administration previously halted the program, part of the review from the executive order will be to determine a process for those with active cases to pursue their cases and not “simply languish in Mexico while they await a decision or the opportunity to make their case,†senior administration officials said.
The executive orders were previously scheduled to be introduced and signed last Friday. However, the delay in confirming Mayorkas as secretary of Homeland Security caused the executive orders to be pushed back.
Biden also signed executive orders that will create a framework to address the underlying causes of migration to the United States’ southern border from mostly Central American countries, like Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, and work with foreign governments as well as international organizations to create opportunities to process migrants seeking asylum in that region.
In addition, Biden signed an executive order that reestablishes an Obama-era task force called the Task Force on New Americans to help integrate immigrants into American communities. The order will also call on government agencies to conduct a review of regulations and policies that “set up barriers to our legal immigration system,†according to the White House.
More:Asylum seekers at US-Mexico border see hope in Biden administration immigration changes
These are the latest executive orders Biden has signed in his first several weeks in office.
Biden during his first days in office reversed Trump’s travel ban from several Muslim-majority countries and stopped construction on the border wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. He has also sent an immigration bill to Congress that outlines an eight-year pathway to citizenship for migrants living in the United States without legal status.
Biden’s actions were praised by several lawmakers, including Sen. Bob Menendez, who will be leading Biden’s immigration legislation in the Senate.Â
“Intentionally inflicting that kind of unspeakable trauma on parents and children is completely unforgivable,†Menendez said in a statement. “While we will never be able to erase the atrocities committed against families by the Trump administration, we have a responsibility to do everything we can to reunify the families that were ripped apart, provide victims with the legal support and trauma-informed health care they need, and hold perpetrators accountable.
Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Raul Ruiz told USA TODAY that Biden’s policies on immigration are “night and day†compared to the Trump Administrations, and that he looks “forward to working with the task force to briefings and also to help the families who have been injured to put them on the path of healing.â€
Senior White House officials on Monday said they could not give a timeline as to when there will be a solution for migrants who are now stuck in Mexico awaiting to see a judge for their asylum case.
Some activists were disappointed in the Biden Administration for not having a timeline to introduce an alternative policy to Trump’s “migrant protection protocol.â€
“While we understand the undertaking of reversing the previous administration’s disregard for human rights with its unconstitutional immigration actions, the least that can be done is to set a date for this review of MPP to be done,†immigration attorney and activist Charlene D’Cruz said in a statement. “The men, women, and children at the border – including many … that are medically vulnerable or members of the LGBTQ community in fear for their safety – have waited long enough without answers from the U.S. government on when they will be given their legally-mandated hearing on their application for asylum.â€
Contributing:Â Nicholas Wu and Savannah Behrmann
Reach Rebecca Morin at Twitter @RebeccaMorin_
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