US rejoins Paris climate pact, WHO under President Joe Biden

Getting to work soon after the inauguration festivities President Joe Biden has signed orders for the US to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organization WHO in the first set of actions to undo the policies of his predecessor Donald TrumpHe signed 17 executive orders covering also immigration and the fight against COVID19 on Wednesday afternoon after he was swornin as president and Kamala Harris as Vice PresidentBiden said that he is fulfilling a commitment I made that were going to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord as of todayTrump had pulled out of the Paris agreement asserting that it placed an unfair economic burden on American compared to countries like India and ChinaHe also quit the WHO because it was being deferential to China especially during the Covid19 crisisRejoining the WHO will strengthen our efforts in strengthening global health his Spokesperson Jan Psaki saidBiden also ended oil and gas exploration on federal lands and the laying of a pipeline to transport oil from CanadaThe first order Biden signed was for the fight against the Covid19 pandemic It mandated the wearing of masks and observance of social distancing on federal government politics and on planes trains and buses travelling between statesTaking up immigration issues Biden gave protection and work permits to those who came in as children and are in the country illegally It would not help those who came in legally and stayed legal like the children of those on H1B visas who can be deported when they become adultsHe issued another order ending the construction of the wall on the Mexican border that Trump had ordered to deter illegal immigrationHe was also sending to Congress an immigration bill that would give legal status to about 11 million people who are in the country legally and eventually citizenship According to one of Bidens election manifestos 500000 Indians would be covered by itThe bill would not cover those legally in the country on nonimmigrant visas like H1B and can wait several decades for getting Green Cards or immigrant statusPsaki said the immigration bill provides for people who have enriched our communities and lived here for decades and offers them citizenship keeping families togetherIt would also ensure America can remain a refuge for those feeling persecutionBiden also ended the socalled Muslim ban on visas for people from certain countriesAlthough the media and the Democrats labelled the Trump action Muslim ban it does not apply to all Muslim countries and was narrowly focused on countries that did not have a system to vet the background of visa applicants and also applied to North KoreaMost countries with Muslim majorities or significant number of Muslims did not come under the banBidens immigration measures are shaping up as caravans of several hundred people from Central America have formed and are trying to reach the US and several thousand people who tried to get asylum in the US have been made by the Trump administration orders to wait in Mexico while their claims are examinedBiden will have to contend with them if they try to reach the USUnited Nations SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres to whom the papers to rejoin the Paris Agreement were sent welcomed Bidens effortsHe said We look forward to the leadership of the United States in accelerating global efforts towards net zeroHis spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that Guterres also welcomed the announcement of the reengagement with WHONow is the time for unity and for the international community to work together in solidarity to stop this virus and its shattering consequences he saidOn the immigration actions taken by Biden Dujarric said Guterres found them positive stepsHe said The SecretaryGeneral looks forward to working with the new US administration to strengthen multilateral cooperation in these areas He also hopes to see the United States join the Global Compact for Safe Orderly and Regular MigrationThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever