On Monday, President Trump pardoned almost all participants in the riots accused of storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021. His decision seems to apply to both those accused of minor non-violent offenses that day and those who committed violence.
In addition, Trump focused in the first hours on the decisions of the previous administration, canceling 78 of Joe Biden's orders in the first hours, including the order to expand gender identity designations. In his first late social media post during his second term, President Trump stated that his administration is in the process of firing «more than a thousand» Biden administration appointees who have not yet resigned.
During his inaugural speech, Trump declared a state of emergency at the border with Mexico and ordered the cessation of the use of the app through which migrants notify that they intend to enter the United States. He also canceled Biden's program, introduced in 2023, which allowed migrants from four troubled countries — Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Venezuela — to fly to the US and temporarily stay in the country with a financial sponsor and passing security checks. Migrants entering under this program could stay in the country for no more than two years if they did not find other ways to stay longer. As The New York Times writes, by the end of last year, more than 500,000 migrants entered the country under this initiative. These measures were taken to reduce illegal migration to the country.
Donald Trump also ordered that US government agencies no longer issue citizenship documents to children born in the United States to parents without legal status. Trump's order is aimed at a new interpretation of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which grants citizenship to all people born on US soil. According to legal experts, this change is illegal and will be quickly challenged in court.
Among other things, the US president signed an order extending the ability of TikTok to operate in the US. The order instructs the attorney general not to enforce the law for 75 days to give the Trump administration «an opportunity to determine the appropriate further course».
Another package of orders — the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization, as well as a 90-day suspension of aid to foreign countries.
Photo: The New York Times