As President Joe Biden’s first day in office came to a close, it became clear that he was off to a running start. He had signed 17 executive orders, ranging from COVID-19 safety procedures and health care to immigration and human rights.
Several of President Biden’s executive orders were to reverse policies that the Trump Administration put into place. He started by reversing Former President Donald Trump’s 2017 travel ban from Muslim-majority countries, like Iran, Iraq, Sudan, and Syria. Many foreign nationals were originally denied entry into the United States because of their religion and were deemed a threat to the country. It was a racist and discriminatory ban, and now that President Biden has repealed it, people from the Middle East can now travel to the U.S. more easily and will not be banned from traveling because of their personal beliefs.

Another policy the Trump Administration had put into place restricted federal agencies and contractors from being required to take diversity training. President Biden immediately used an executive order to make diversity training mandatory again. He then shut down The 1776 Commission website, which was a rebuttal against The New York Time’s (NYT) 1619 Project. The NYT set up the 1619 project to educate people about African American history and let information about slavery be available to all, so history wouldn’t be repeated. The 1776 Commission was published by the Trump Administration because they believed the information in the 1619 Project was biased and inaccurate. Diversity training helps people recognize and understand the many different backgrounds that make up our country. Employees taking the diversity training can learn to be more open-minded about people who are different from them and become more accepting of different cultures. Without diversity training being required, the government isn’t setting a good example for U.S. citizens. Americans will behave rudely and brazenly to anyone who doesn’t fit their belief of looking or acting like an American. Without the training, they might not care or wouldn’t have access to much education about other cultures. Anyone who feels like they can discriminate against other people feels entitled to do so because the government isn’t making strides against it or giving them any legal repercussions. Many people believe the Trump Administration didn’t discourage racism and discrimination, however, under their administration it got worse. Additionally, popular social media apps surround individuals with like-minded people, potentially creating an echo-chamber of thoughts that only confirm their beliefs. By staying in one circle of media, they don’t have anything to disprove what they’re saying and will continue hearing what they want to hear.

A petition on TikTok went viral and received over 1.4 million signatures as it showed concern for the drilling taking place in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Once President Biden assumed his role in the White House, he signed an executive order to temporarily halt oil and gas leasing on the land. By stopping drilling and protecting the wildlife refuge, we are contributing to a slower extinction rate of arctic animals, many of whom are already vulnerable because of the Trump Administration pulling back restrictions. President Biden also revoked permits for the Keystone XL Pipeline, a pipeline that carries some of the dirtiest fossil fuels to the market quickly, and thereby increases the rate at which fossil fuels are being drilled. The pipeline is damaging to indigenous people and their protected lands. They are not the only ones protesting this- many rural communities in the area are also against the project. It could harm the environment and pollute the water, and only provide benefits for the CEOs and other business leaders running the project. Both of these moves are helping to combat climate change and are applauded by environmentalists.

In May of last year, the Trump Administration announced that the U.S. would be leaving the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris Climate Accord. The Paris Climate Accord is a set of guidelines on how to keep greenhouse gases low enough to keep life on Earth stable and not cause irreversible danger. With climate change becoming more worse than ever and The U.S. producing over 6.5 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas in the world in 2017 alone, it’s important that we have a leader who knows that it’s a real issue and doesn’t pull us out of important committees. Now that the U.S. is rejoining the WHO, citizens will have to follow stricter COVID-19 rules than before. By following these guidelines, COVID-19 cases should steadily go down and we can resume a somewhat normal life, compared to years previous. President Biden also asked agencies to extend eviction and foreclosure moratoriums and asked state departments to keep student loan payments suspended until September. By keeping people in their houses and suspending student loans, we can keep the economy afloat instead of having it tank all at once.

These executive orders were only some of what President Biden achieved, on his first day no less. Over the next four years, President Biden will most likely reverse many of the hateful and hurtful policies that the Trump Administration put into place during their era. He’s created positive changes with the 17 executive orders he’s already signed and in the future, and is planning to put additional travel restrictions in place to stop the spread of COVID-19 coming into the U.S. from other countries.