As of January 20, 2021 Joseph R. Biden has been sworn in as the 46^th president of the United States and Kamala Harris has become the first woman of color to become the vice president. What comes next though? What did they do in their first few weeks?

Within hours of being sworn in President Biden rescinded the travel ban effecting 13 counties, most of which were either African or had a high Muslim population. Trump issued this ban shortly after taking office and the Supreme Court passed a revised version in 2018.  Since then more than 42,000 people have been unable to enter the United States. Biden’s Executive Order addressed the issue of Trump’s ban saying, “Those actions are a stain on our national conscience and are inconsistent with our long history of welcoming people of all faiths and no faith at all.” President Biden is now currently working on ensuring no president can do such a thing again, by pushing Congress to pass the No Ban Act.

On the 26^th of January, Biden signed an executive order creating a task force meant to identify and reunite migrant families who have been separated because of Trump’s “zero tolerance policy.”  “With the first action today we are going to work to undo the moral and national shame of the previous administration that literally, not figuratively, ripped children from the arms of their families at the border and with no plan, none whatsoever, to reunify the children who are still in custody and their parents,” Biden said. The Trump administration pulled at least 5,500 migrant children away from their parents in just one year, and at least 1,000 of those families are still separated. President Biden along with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, chairman of the task force, are hard at work trying to reunite as many families as possible.

President Biden also signed an executive order addressing what the strategy will be for COVID-19. He addressed how for the last year the government hasn’t been taking COVID-19 serious, saying, “We couldn’t rely on the federal government to act with the urgency and focus and coordination that we needed, and we have seen the tragic cost of that failure.” He then went on to talk about what he will be doing to help. Biden talked about how he is going to require masks for interstate public travel, including in, airports, buses, and trains. He also stated that he will be establishing a health equity task force as soon as possible, that would calm nerves about COVID-19 vaccines.

Though President Biden has only been in office a few weeks, he has already done so much for this county and though the inauguration may have been a bit different this year it was important none the less. America is taking steps in the right direction and President Biden is leading the way.