*President-elect Joe Biden plans to address the COVID-19 crisis within his first ten days in office, and ask Congress to prioritize offering legal status to an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the country.
On Saturday, Biden’s Chief of Staff Ron Klain sent a memo to incoming White House advisers about the executive actions that he plans to sign in the first ten days of his administration.
“We face four overlapping and compounding crises: the COVID-19 crisis, the resulting economic crisis, the climate crisis, and a racial equity crisis. All of these crises demand urgent action,” Klain wrote, per PEOPLE. “In his first ten days in office, President-elect Biden will take decisive action to address these four crises, prevent other urgent and irreversible harms, and restore America’s place in the world.”
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Though pushed, tested, and threatened throughout the 2020 election, our democracy proved to be resilient, true, and strong. My Campaign Advisor Bob Bauer and General Counsel Dana Remus shared their thoughts on how the will of the people prevailed. https://t.co/glyZgv5AtZ
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 17, 2021
Biden will reportedly kick off his presidency by asking the Education Department to extend the federal hiatus on student loan payments and interest. He will also rejoin the Paris climate accord, lift Trump’s travel ban on Muslim countries, launch the “100 Day Masking Challenge,” and issue a mask mandate on federal property and interstate travel. Biden will also extend nationwide restrictions on evictions and foreclosures.
His executive actions this week intend to “move aggressively to change the course of the COVID-19 crisis and safely re-open schools and businesses, including by taking action to mitigate spread through expanding testing, protecting workers, and establishing clear public health standards.”
Biden’s 10-day agenda reportedly includes overturning Trump’s strict border policies and “start the difficult but critical work of reuniting families separated at the border,” Klain said.
“But by February 1st, America will be moving in the right direction on all four of these challenges — and more — thanks to President-elect Joe Biden’s leadership,” Klain said, adding, “While the policy objectives in these executive actions are bold, I want to be clear: the legal theory behind them is well-founded and represents a restoration of an appropriate, constitutional role for the President.”
Last Thursday, Biden unveiled a proposed stimulus package that includes $1,400 direct payments to Americans, expanding unemployment benefits and raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.
On his first day in office, Biden reportedly intends to announce legislation that provides citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants, per The Associated Press.
“This really does represent a historic shift from Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda that recognizes that all of the undocumented immigrants that are currently in the United States should be placed on a path to citizenship,” said Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, who was briefed on the bill.
Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will take their oaths of office on Jan. 20.
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