Message from the President: President Biden's Executive Orders
January 27, 2021
Dear UTRGV Family:
During his first days in office, President Biden signed a number of executive actions. While these orders, memorandums, and proclamations will resonate across the country in various ways, some of them will undoubtedly have a more significant impact on our campus community here in the Rio Grande Valley.
Below is a summary of these new directives and their effects as they relate to our students, faculty, and staff at UTRGV:
- COVID-19: Appoints a COVID-19 response coordinator that is responsible for coordinating all aspects of the federal response to the pandemic, including vaccine distribution; Directs the National Security Advisor to prepare recommendations (within 180 days) regarding emerging domestic and global biological risks and national bio preparedness policies.
- Masks: Directs all federal agencies to immediately require on-duty or on-site federal employees, on-site federal contractors, and all persons in federal buildings or on federal lands to comply with CDC guidelines regarding masks, physical distancing, and other public health measures.
- Student Loans: Extends the current pause on student loan payments and accrual of interest on federal student loans through at least September 30, 2021.
- DACA: Reverses the previous administration’s policy by directing the Secretary of Homeland Security to take steps to “preserve and fortify” the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
- NOTE: DACA is not a law; it is an immigration policy that allows DHS to indefinitely postpone the deportation of undocumented persons brought into the U.S. as children. UTRGV has been working diligently with the Texas Opportunity Coalition to garner support for passage of a federal Dream Act that would resolve this issue on a permanent basis.
- Census: Reverses the previous administration’s policy by directing the Secretary of Commerce to include all persons in the census whose usual residence is in a given state, even if they lack lawful immigration status.
- Construction of Physical Border Wall: Reverses the previous administration’s policy by revoking the 2019 declaration of a national emergency at the southern border and directs the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to pause construction of the border wall; Announces policy to cease additional funding for construction of the wall and launches a review of all resources currently allocated to building the wall.
- Discrimination Based on Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation: Reverses the previous administration’s policy by declaring that the federal government will combat discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation, and fully enforce all laws that prohibit discrimination on those bases.
- Racial Equity and Underserved Communities: Revokes the previous administration’s executive order restricting the teaching of “divisive concepts” in workplace training programs and charges the Domestic Policy Council to coordinate efforts to embed equity principles, policies, and approaches across the federal government.
- Bans to Entering the United States: Revokes several of the previous administration’s executive orders regarding immigration, including the so-called “Muslim ban.” Most recently, those orders banned travel to the U.S. by many, and sometimes all, nationals of North Korea, Syria, Iran, Libya, Yemen, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania and Venezuela.
- Housing: Extends the federal moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures through at least March 31, 2021.
- Civil Immigration Enforcement: Revokes a 2017 executive order that, among other things, directed the immediate deportation of undocumented persons and attempted to restrict federal funding to “sanctuary” cities.
- Domestic and International Travel/Masks and Testing: Directs the relevant federal agencies to require masks to be worn in/on airports; commercial aircraft; trains; public maritime vessels; intercity bus services; and other forms of public transportation. The order will also require travelers arriving in the U.S. to (i) provide proof of a recent negative COVID-19 test before entry and (ii) comply with other CDC guidelines, including recommended periods of self-quarantine or self-isolation after entry.
- Opening K-12 Schools and Higher-Ed Institutions: Directs the Secretary of Education to issue evidence-based guidance to higher-ed institutions on:
- safely reopening for in-person learning, accounting for an institution’s setting, resources, and population;
- distance and online learning, blended learning, and in-person learning; and
- the promotion of mental health, social-emotional well-being, and communication with parents and families.
- Worker Health and Safety: Directs several cabinet agencies to explore how to protect workers against COVID-19 if their employers (including state governments) are exempt from OSHA requirements.
- NOTE: As state government agencies, UT institutions are exempt from OSHA’s worker health/safety regulations.
- New Public Health Workforce and Insurance Guidance: Directs the Secretaries of Treasury, HHS and Labor to clarify health insurers’ legal obligations to provide coverage for COVID-19 testing and directs several federal agencies to establish a U.S. Public Health Job Corps, which will undertake testing, contact tracing, and vaccination efforts.
With further executive action anticipated in the coming days and weeks, I’d like to take this opportunity to reaffirm the university’s commitment to promoting a safe, healthy, and inclusive campus community for all.
Sincerely,
Guy Bailey
President