Top 5 Notable Presidential Actions in the
First 100 Days

1. On February 4, 2021, President Biden took an historic step to improve and strengthen the U.S. refugee resettlement program by signing the “Executive Order on Rebuilding and Enhancing Programs to Resettle Refugees and Planning for the Impact of Climate Change on Migration.” The order was notable, as it linked the issues of climate change and migration and committed to resettling 125,000 refugees in fiscal year 2022.  LIRS applauded the decision, indicating that “we stand ready to rise to the laudable challenge of restoring refugee resettlement to historic norms and beyond.” 

2. In keeping with his campaign promise, President Biden repealed the Muslim and Refugee Ban by executive action, lifting restrictions on travel and immigration from predominantly Muslim-majority and African nations. LIRS CEO Krish O'Mara Vignarajah heralded the move, announcing that “the Biden administration has renewed our faith in America as a welcoming nation by ending this harmful, racist ban.”

3. In the first 100 days, the Biden administration has designated two countries for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), Venezuela and Burma. It also redesignated TPS for Syria, which expands the protection for more newly arrived Syrians. Temporary Protected Status provides life-saving protection from deportation and work authorization for people who were already in the United States when conditions in their country made it unsafe to return.

4. In March, the White House announced the reopening of the Central American Minors (CAM) program for children from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The program was created to provide a safer process for vulnerable children fleeing violence to reunify with family in the U.S., and LIRS was an implementing partner until its abrupt cancellation in 2017. Read our statement on its reopening.  

5. The Biden administration ended the Migration Protection Protocols, also known as Remain in Mexico, which prevented tens of thousands of asylum seekers from entering the U.S. Since February 19, people who have active court cases and have been waiting in Mexico for months (some for more than a year) are now being admitted to the U.S. LIRS was one of 60 non-governmental organizations that strongly opposed Remain in Mexico when it was first implemented in 2019.

Top 5 Actions We Want to See in the
Next 100 Days

1. While the President’s February Executive Order renewed hope for many, it did not provide immediate relief for tens of thousands of people seeking safety who have already been approved for resettlement. Sadly, we have seen dreams of reunification with family put on hold, flights cancelled, and communities ready to receive having to stand down. We encourage you to join us in calling for President Biden to restore welcome in the United States.
    
2. The administration should continue to end categorical exclusions of persons seeking entry to the United States, particularly those seeking safety. The President should rescind Title 42, which has been in place since March 2020 and has cruelly expelled thousands to danger. Mounting evidence indicates the number of arrivals of unaccompanied children at the Southern border is a result of this policy, making it all the more urgent. 
    
3. The President has stated that he intends to expand humanitarian protections for people who are unable to return to their country due to war, natural disaster, or other conditions that make return unsafe. While we have been encouraged by the new designations of TPS for Burma and Venezuela, the administration should extend Temporary Protective Status protections to all countries that qualify. LIRS recently joined over 300 organizations in making this request.
    
4. When the Biden administration reopened the CAM program, it did so in two phases. Immediately, it prioritized processing applications that had already been filed and were being processed before the program was shut down in 2017. The next phase is to reopen the program to new applications. We encourage the administration to urgently enhance and expand the CAM program, as this next step will offer a critical tool to reduce the incidence of children making the dangerous journey from Central America to the United States alone.   
    
5. LIRS is encouraged that the administration is ending the asylum cooperative agreements with El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, which limited the ability of asylum seekers to seek safety in the U.S. We urge the administration to continue to its efforts to reverse the immoral and illegal polices of the previous administration, including those that bar victims of gang and domestic violence and members of the LGBTQ community from being eligible to apply for asylum. 

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