It’s been one month since President Joe Biden has been in office. He has signed 45 executive orders and pushed several initiatives to fight climate change, which he named a “maximum threat.” 

For the environment, Biden invested almost $400 billion into clean energy research and usage, aspiring to make the United States a global leader in clean energy and to create millions of jobs. He upheld his campaign promise to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord on his first day in office and even revoked the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. The pipeline extension would have emitted more greenhouse gases and destroyed indigenous lands. 

Concerning COVID-19 Relief, Biden has signed executive orders that restrict travel from high-risk countries, enhance data collection, support public masking, and support vaccination centers. His bill on the coronavirus relief package is expected to include: 

• $160 billion expansion of the vaccination and testing program that will allow equitable and free access to the vaccine
• Additional direct payments of $1,400 and a $400 extension of unemployment insurance benefits, as well as a $15 federal minimum wage by 2025. 
• Aid to state and local governments
• Direct payments and loan programs to struggling small businesses
• Funding designated to support the reopening of schools

Plus, President Biden has made vaccinating Americans a top priority and the administration finalized deals to purchase 200 million more vaccine doses by the end of July. 

This past month, he made a series of moves targeting racial injustice:

• Directed the Department of Housing and Urban Development to review and correct racially discriminatory housing policies.
• Pledged to strengthen relationships with indigenous nations and provide additional support.
• Condemned hate crimes and rhetoric targeted at the Asian-American community
• Ordered the ending the federal government’s use of private prisons
• Backed the idea to create a commission to study reparations for Black Americans

However, some of the suggested actions Biden has yet to push include creating a federal standard for police use-of-force and creating a database of all police-related shootings, deaths, and arrests. 

President Biden is also working on several actions to get the economy back on track:  

• Economic impact payments and unemployment: Biden has pledged to send out $1,400 stimulus checks. This doesn’t meet the promised $2,000, but the Biden Administration upholds that the $1,400 supplements the $600 sent out in mid-January. The Administration also expanded unemployment benefits to those previously unqualified. The stimulus payments are waiting for passage in Congress
• Student loan forgiveness: President Biden also extended the pause on student loan repayments. He supports canceling up to $10,000 of a student debt per borrower.

However, Biden’s actions on immigration are concerning to many of his supporters. His original focus was on revoking policies of the former administration, so he has:

• Issued an executive order to create a reunification task force focused on finding the families of the 611 children separated at the border
• Halted funding and construction of the border wall
• Paused and called for a review of the Trump-era Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP, or “Remain in Mexico” Program). The MPP program forced asylum seekers to wait in Mexico (no matter where they’re from) while the US reviews their request
• Ended Trump’s infamous Muslim travel ban
• Signed an executive order to “preserve and fortify” DACA

Recently, Biden’s deportation moratorium was overridden by a federal judge in Texas. Due to this situation, more than 26,000 people have been deported in just the first month of President Biden’s presidency. During his campaign, Biden pledged to undo most of Trump’s strict immigration policies. However, Biden brought a shutdown, year old, migrant facility back to life. The use of the facility was a source of protests and public outcry, and it plans to hold up to 700 children ranging from ages 13-17. President Biden has taken a major step backward in reopening this facility. These facilities, also known as “emergency shelters” have been criticized by advocates for immigrants, lawyers, and human rights activists over their terrible conditions, and lack of transparency in their operations. 

Biden promised 0 deportations during his first 100 days in office. In his first 29 days, Biden deported 26,249 migrants. At this rate, Biden is set to deport 330,000 migrants by the end of the year. 

Some of Biden’s First 100 Days plan we have yet to see action on include: 

• Direct federal resources to help prevent violence against transgender women, particularly transgender women of color
• Reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act that would keep firearms out of abusers reach by closing “boyfriend” and “stalking” loopholes
• Close the “Charleston loophole” that allows firearms to be sold before the required background checks have been completed
• Ending the federal death penalty
• Guaranteed paid parental leave
• Expanding employment opportunities to people with disabilities
• Implementing a national strategy to make housing a right 

Biden made numerous amounts of promises on his campaign trail, and it’s up to the citizens to hold him accountable.