Biden to cancel 'Muslim ban' on first day in office

US President-elect Joe Biden plans to sign a flurry of executive orders on his first day in the White House, reversing some of President Donald Trump’s immigration actions, including ‘Muslim ban.’

“This ban, which restricted issuance of visas to individuals from many Muslim and African countries, was nothing less than a stain on our nation. It was rooted in xenophobia and religious animus and President-elect Biden has been clear that we will not turn our back on our values with discriminatory bans on entry to the United States,” Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser-designate, said on a call with reporters.

Biden also plans to issue a national mask-wearing order, cancel the construction of the Southern border wall, and rejoin both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change after being sworn in on Wednesday afternoon.

During the 2016 presidential race, Trump campaigned for "a total and complete shutdown" of Muslims entering the United States on the pretext of preventing terrorist attacks.

Iran, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Yemen and Sudan were the countries that were initially among Trump’s ban list, but later Sudan was delisted due to its participation in Western-backed Saudi war on Yemen.

The 2017 Trump travel ban, which triggered criticism that it amounted to unlawful religious discrimination, later expanded to include Venezuela and North Korea, and then added Nigeria and Myanmar.

SS