Client Alerts

January 28, 2021

How Has President Biden Changed Immigration During His First Week?

By: David W. Leopold and Anastasia Tonello

January 28, 2021 – On January 20, 2021, President Biden issued several orders on immigration. Some orders take immediate effect while others may take more time to be implemented. Among the changes are:

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program remains in place.
Deportations were paused for 100 days (starting January 22), with some exceptions, and new enforcement guidelines that target national security and public safety threats have been published. However, on January 26, a district court temporarily prevented the implementation of the 100-day pause. To read an earlier client alert on the 100-day pause, click here.
The “Muslim Ban,” affecting mainly Muslim-majority and African nations, has been revoked. The ban applied to nationals from Burma, Eritrea, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Nigeria, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Venezuela, and Yemen.
Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) protection was extended for Liberian nationals until June 30, 2022.
Enrollments in the Migrant Protection Protocols that keep asylum seekers waiting in Mexico were suspended.

President Biden also added South Africa to the COVID-19 related travel ban countries and reinstated the travel bans for those who have been physically present in Brazil, the U.K., Ireland, and the Schengen Area in the immediately preceding 14-day period.

Further, the president has proposed a sweeping immigration bill that would make more people eligible for legal status. However, at this time, Congress has not passed any immigration bill into law. This means that no new options to apply for legal status have been created and no broad legalization program has been adopted.

Ulmer’s Immigration Law Group is closely monitoring these developments and is prepared to support you and your organization with your business needs. Please reach out to our immigration attorneys if you have any questions.

The information provided in this client alert speaks only to the information and guidance we have available as of the date of publication and is subject to change. We will continue to follow further issued guidance and regulations and endeavor to post those updates via our website. This legal update was created by Ulmer & Berne LLP, and is not intended as a substitute for professional legal advice. Receipt of this client alert, by itself, does not create an attorney client relationship. For any questions, or for further information, please contact David W. Leopold at dleopold@ulmer.com or Anastasia Tonello at atonello@ulmer.com.