The newly inaugurated President of the United State, Joe Biden has lifted the immigrant visa ban placed on Nigerians by his predecessor, Donald Trump while signing some executive order on Thursday.
Also, Biden reversed the systemic ban placed on citizens from Muslim dominated countries like Yemen, this is according to the Bloomberg report.
It could be recalled that in January 2020, Trump had expanded curbs on immigration to include six more countries, including Nigeria, citing Nigeria’s lack of a robust database.
As at that time, the US government said the policy was designed to tighten security for countries that don’t comply with the U.S. minimum security standards or cooperate to prevent illegal immigration.
The Nigerian government subsequently set up a committee on Citizen Data Management and Harmonisation, to address the complaints of the US which led to the recent push for all Nigerians to register with the National Identity Management Commission and obtain a National Identity Number.
But the Biden administration, which campaigned partly on a message of diversity, is seeking to re-open America to the world.
The reversal is part of a 10-day onslaught of executive actions intended to overturn key Trump policies without waiting for Congress, on topics ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to climate change and criminal justice, the report further stated.
According to the report, “The ban that Biden ended, blocked entry to most people from Iran, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and North Korea. It also restricted immigrant visas for people from Nigeria, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, and Eritrea as well as for certain others from Venezuela and Tanzania.”
Biden on Wednesday began reversing Trump’s immigration policies, part of an aggressive push to roll back some of the most controversial actions of his predecessor and chart a new course for the nation.
In one of his first acts as president, Biden signed an executive action ending restrictions on travel and immigration from some predominantly Muslim countries.
The measure directs the State Department to resume visa processing for those countries and develop a plan to address people affected, such as those who were denied entry to the US.
With Biden’s reversal of Trump’s order, Nigerians will now be able to apply for green cards.
Apparently, Biden has halted the US exit from the World Health Organization, stopped construction of Trump’s cherished wall on the Mexican border, and rescinded a ban on visitors from several Muslim-majority nations.
He has also committed the United States to rejoin the Paris climate accord, blocked an oil pipeline project, and froze the Arctic drilling in a raft of executive orders signed hours after taking office Wednesday.
CAIR Reacts To Biden’s Decision
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) welcomed the decision as “an important first step toward undoing the anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant policies of the previous administration”.
“It is an important fulfilment of a campaign pledge to the Muslim community and its allies,” the group’s executive director, Nihad Awad, said in a statement.
The reversal is part of a 10-day onslaught of executive actions intended to overturn key Trump policies without waiting for Congress, on topics ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to climate change and criminal justice, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, President Biden also explained that the travel ban policy is discriminatory in nature and doesn’t represent the values of the United States of America.
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