President proposes an immigration bill with a path to legalization and signs executive orders preserving DACA and overturning Trump’s travel ban targeting Muslim-majority counties.
President Biden on his first day in office Wednesday proposed an immigration bill that features a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and makes Dreamers — young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children — immediately eligible for green cards.
He also signed a memorandum directing the Secretary of Homeland Security to take actions aimed at “preserving and fortifying” the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. A separate executive order repealed a controversial travel ban policy established by former president Trump that barred nationals from a group of mostly Muslim-majority and African countries from entering the United States.
Higher education groups praised the reversal of the ban, which initially caused chaos in higher education as students and scholars affiliated with American institutions found themselves stranded abroad. In the nearly four years since the travel ban was put in place, one week after Trump’s inauguration, many higher ed officials have argued the policy sent an unwelcoming message to students and scholars around the globe.