Biden's first measures in his debut as US president

In his debut at the White House in Washington, the new top US leader, Joe Biden, on Wednesday approved a set of measures, many of which invalidate several taken by the previous president, Donald Trump. 

In his inauguration speech, the Democratic politician appealed to the unity of all Americans and remarked that democracy had prevailed, after the turbulent period of the Trump administration, with racial, international and all kinds of conflicts, which led to unrealistic allegations of electoral fraud in Biden's victory (which were logically not accepted by the courts) and the unfortunate assault on the Capitol a couple of weeks ago, which resulted in five deaths after thousands of radical Trump supporters raided the parliamentary building just as the Democratic candidate's victory in the presidential elections was about to be confirmed in the parliamentary building.  

Joe Biden, after taking office, made his debut in the Oval Office of the White House and approved 17 executive orders, many of them reversing previous decisions of former President Donald Trump.

The list of these urgent decrees includes the following initiatives: 

1. Halting construction of the border wall. President Joe Biden has cancelled the national emergency that Trump had decreed in order to divert funds to finance the construction of the border wall with Mexico, which, for the moment, remains in the air. 
2. 100 days of facemasks. Biden has signed an order urging Americans to wear masks (which is only mandatory in some states) during the first 100 days of his presidency to deal with the pandemic. The order mandates its use in federal facilities. 
3. Return to the Paris Agreement. The new president has approved the US's re-accession to the Paris Climate Agreement, a process that will take 30 days to become effective after Trump approved its exit in 2017. 
4. Suspension of the exit of the World Health Organization (WHO). The president has suspended the US exit from the WHO, approved by Trump. 
5. Extension of the moratorium on rents and mortgages. Biden has approved an extension until March 31 of the moratorium on evictions for those who cannot pay their rent and foreclosures due to the economic crisis.
6. Extension of the pause on student debt repayment. Also due to the financial crisis, the US president has also extended until September 30 the pause in the payment of student debt held by the federal government and its interest. 
7. An end to the so-called "Muslim veto". Joe Biden has cancelled the veto imposed by Trump on travellers from 11 Muslim-majority countries (Eritrea, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania and Yemen), popularly known as the "Muslim veto". 
8. Cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline. The president has cancelled the Keystone XL pipeline project, which has become a symbol of the fight against the climate crisis, and has ordered a review of more than a hundred of Trump's environmental decisions. 
9. Support for "dreamers". Another of the orders signed by Biden safeguards the DACA programme, which protects some 650,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children, known as "dreamers", from deportation. 
10. Relief for Liberians. Biden has extended until 30 June 2022 the suspension of deportations and work permits for about 4,000 Liberians in the US under a special programme for Liberian refugees.
11. Detention of undocumented immigrants. The new US president ordered a review of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) priorities for arresting undocumented immigrants, which Trump had instructed to expand. 
12. Adding undocumented immigrants to the census. Joe Biden ordered the re-counting of undocumented immigrants in the population census, which is carried out every 10 years and is used to allocate funds and political representation. 
13. Creation of a COVID-19 coordinator. The president has created a COVID-19 coordinator, appointing Jeff Zients, who will oversee vaccine supply, distribution and administration, as well as production of kits and coronavirus testing. A very different position to that of Donald Trump, who at the beginning of the pandemic frivolised and even downplayed the spread of the coronavirus. 
14. End of the 1776 Commission. Joe Biden put an end to the 1776 Commission created by Trump, which on Monday had published a report which, according to historians, distorted the history of slavery in the United States. 
15. LGTBQ employment protections. The order signed by Biden prevents job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in the federal government. 
16. Ethics pledge. The new President of the United States has approved an order that will force trusted officials in the federal government to sign an ethics pledge prohibiting them from acting in their personal interest. 
17. Freeze on Donald Trump's last-minute measures. Joe Biden has finally halted the implementation of regulatory measures approved by Trump in the last hours of his administration in order to review them carefully.