Migration News 

Biden Bets Big on Immigration Changes in Opening Move
Elliot Spagat, AP 
For the opening salvo of his presidency, few expected Joe Biden to be so far-reaching on immigration.A raft of executive orders signed Wednesday undoes many of his predecessor’s hallmark initiatives, such as halting work on a border wall with Mexico, lifting a travel ban on people from several predominantly Muslim countries and reversing plans to exclude people in the country illegally from the 2020 census. Six of Biden's 17 orders, memorandums and proclamations deal with immigration. He ordered efforts to preserve Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals [and] also extended temporary legal status to Liberians who fled civil war and the Ebola outbreak to June 2022. The Homeland Security Department announced a 100-day moratorium on deportations “for certain noncitizens,” starting Friday, after Biden revoked one of Trump’s earliest executive orders making anyone in the country illegally a priority for deportations. 

Biden will pause deportations for 100 days
Nicole Narea, Vox 
The Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday night that it would pause deportations of certain noncitizens for 100 days starting on January 22, delivering on one of President Joe Biden’s key campaign promises on immigration policy. The agency said in a statement that the moratorium will allow it to “review and reset enforcement priorities” after the Trump administration sought to ensure that no undocumented immigrants — including families and longtime US residents — were safe from deportation.

Biden undoes ban on travelers from some majority-Muslim countries
Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News 
Hours after taking office, President Joe Biden issued an executive order overturning the Trump administration’s ban on travelers from a handful of majority-Muslim countries in a move that some faith leaders see as a victory for religious freedom. The order, released alongside other executive actions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and the economy, is part of the new administration’s broader push to ease immigration restrictions. Religious leaders from a variety of denominations thanked Biden for his swift action, noting that the order will enable families who were separated by the ban to reunite.

Biden orders a ‘pause’ on border wall construction, bringing crews to halt
Nick Miroff and Arelis R. Hernández, Washington Post 
Construction crews building the steel wall along the U.S.-Mexico border were ordered to a halt Wednesday after President Biden delivered on a campaign promise and hit “pause” on the Trump administration’s signature infrastructure project. Biden’s presidential proclamation rescinded the national emergency declaration used by President Donald Trump to divert about $10 billion from Defense Department accounts toward the barrier, one of the costliest federal infrastructure projects in U.S. history. It directs private contractors to stop work “as soon as possible but in no case later than seven days,” while launching a full assessment of the project to determine whether its funding sources are legal and whether they can be allocated elsewhere.

Biden Has Rescinded A Trump Order That Made Nearly Every Undocumented Immigrant A Priority For Arrest
Hamed Aleaziz, BuzzFeed News 
President Joe Biden issued an executive order on Wednesday undoing the Trump administration’s efforts to make nearly every undocumented immigrant a priority for arrest. The order was issued alongside others focused on immigration. This is the beginning of an expected overhaul of not only the Department of Homeland Security but its components, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Under former president Donald Trump, ICE faced a torrent of criticism from advocates and politicians for suggesting that leaders in sanctuary cities be charged with crimes, conducting massive worksite raids, and performing other operations that targeted undocumented immigrant families.

Biden Ends Trump Census Policy, Ensuring All Persons Living In U.S. Are Counted
Hansi Lo Wang, NPR 
One of President Biden's first executive actions has reversed former President Donald Trump's unprecedented policy of altering a key census count by excluding unauthorized immigrants. The change ensures that the U.S. continues to follow more than two centuries of precedent in determining representation in Congress and the Electoral College. Hours after he was sworn in as president on Wednesday, Biden signed an executive order that calls for all U.S. residents, in the country legally or not, to be counted in state population numbers that, according to the 14th Amendment, must include the "whole number of persons in each state."

Outgoing Trump administration partly discards rule limiting H-1B visas
Chase DiFeliciantonio, San Francisco Chronicle 
Part of a Trump-era immigration rule tightening which job types qualify for high-skill H-1B visas will not take effect after officials did not publish it in the Federal Register before the inauguration of President Biden. Companies seeking to bring skilled workers, often in tech professions, to the U.S. on an H-1B visa have to establish the person will work in a specialty occupation, which includes certain education requirements. A rule proposed in October sought to narrow the definition of those kinds of jobs but has been tied up in federal court and never took effect.

Worth a Read 

Immigrants cheered by possible citizenship path under Biden
The Washington Post 

Renewed hope for undocumented immigrants, DACA recipients under Biden’s immigration plan
Border Report 

‘I was crying but out of joy:’ Bay Area residents applaud Biden’s immigration plan
San Francisco Chronicle