When U.S. President Joe Biden took office, he made several welcome signals on the issue of immigration.
On Jan. 20, for example, he sent a bill to Congress to restore opportunities and pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants; keep families together; and promote diversity, nondiscrimination, and the integration of immigrants. In the following days, he signed several executive orders to reverse the most inhumane of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, including his efforts to block funding for “sanctuary cities” or those cities and jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities on policies like arrests, detentions, or deportations of undocumented immigrants. Biden also moved to end construction of the wall at the U.S.-Mexico border and established a task force for the reunification of families separated there.
