With the new Biden administration, President Joe Biden’s political policies quickly came into action and displayed what direction he may want to lead the United States to. A few of these policies surround important topics that seem to be a popular debate between former President Donald Trump and Biden, such as climate change, COVID-19 relief, and immigration.

A very much-needed mask mandate was one of the first executive orders Biden put into action. The order requires mask-wearing on federal properties. As COVID-19 cases seem to only rise with every passing day, this seems like the only choice Biden had in hopes of seeing some positive change in case numbers. 

In regards to public health, Biden also took action and re-engaged with the World Health Organization Act from which Trump withdrew. Once the engagement is resumed the Biden-Harris Administration will work with WHO. This re-engagement will allow for better international communication and work to be done surrounding COVID-19 and help prepare the country for future health crises. 

A controversial decision of canceling the Keystone XL Pipeline was another move made by Biden quickly following his transition into office. Along with that, Biden recommitted the US to the Paris Climate Agreement and ordered federal agencies to review more than 100 environmental regulations that were weakened by former President Trump. All of which, Biden believes will be a step in the right direction for the country environmentally. 

Though these may be huge steps from the United States and a change in the country’s impact for climate change, if there are to be huge improvements made, Biden needs to follow up his actions with ways to control pollution from issues such as oil and gas wells. However, the legal process of undoing Trump’s environmental rollbacks and creating new regulations could take several years, and that would be without disagreements between parties. 

A huge executive order signed by President Biden was one that established a task force designed to reunite families separated at the US-Mexico border, which was signed for the sake of having a humane, yet legal immigration system. As Biden believes he is eliminating a bad policy once he signed this order.

This statement comes off as very appealing because no matter what, there is no way to justify separating families, no matter the situation. The least that can be done is to reunite them, which Biden has made a priority. 

Though, that was not the only order signed by Biden regarding immigration. Another seeks to promote immigrant integration and inclusion while reestablishing a Task Force on New Americans. Like other orders, it reverses Trump-era policies and calls for a review of his policies. 

Regarding where you fall on the political spectrum could define what you think of Biden’s policies and what he continues to plan on doing for this country. His plans for immigration could be debated on whether you agree with them or not, but that is only a small part of what Biden is doing. The plans he has for COVID-19 and climate change, as of now, seem to only benefit this country in the long run. As for short-term help, an example would be the mask mandate. Still, these plans could easily backfire and need to be monitored.