President Joe Biden on Tuesday was expected to sign three executive orders on immigration as part of his administration’s push to reverse his predecessor’s policies.
One order is slated to create a task force to reunite migrant families separated at the border, while another is set to kick off a review of recent barriers to legal immigration, such as a “public charge rule” that imposes a wealth test on would-be immigrants.
The White House billed another executive order as a move to “restore” the U.S. asylum system through moves such as starting to end the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” program that was aimed at Central American asylum seekers.
“President Biden’s strategy is centered on the basic premise that our country is safer, stronger, and more prosperous with a fair, safe and orderly immigration system that welcomes immigrants, keeps families together, and allows people — both newly arrived immigrants and people who have lived here for generations — to more fully contribute to our country,” the White House said in a statement Tuesday in advance of the signing.
Biden is slated to sign the three orders at 5 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday. They initially had been expected on Friday. White House press secretary Jen Psaki last week attributed the delay to a Republican filibuster that held up the confirmation of Biden’s nominee for secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas.
Read more: All of President Biden’s key executive orders — in one chart
U.S. stocks DJIA, +1.95% traded higher Tuesday, as investors tracked earnings reports, distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and progress in Washington on another relief package.