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Biden takes over as US President today

January 20, 2021 00:00:00


Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th President of the USA, while Indian-origin politician Kamala Harris will take oath as the 49th Vice President today (Wednesday), report agencies.

Kamala will also become the first woman Vice President of the USA.

Inauguration Day 2021 will take place as the US grapples with a disturbing period after the storming of the Capitol by supporters of outgoing president Donald Trump.

Security measures have been taken by the authorities to organise a scaled-down Inauguration Day keeping in mind the violence on January 6 in which five people were killed.

The Capitol complex in Washington DC was briefly locked down Monday after a security alert, two days before Joe Biden is inaugurated as US president.

Police say they acted out of an abundance of caution after witnesses reported smoke rising nearby. The fire was several blocks away.

Five people died after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, which is home to the US Congress, on 6 January.

Thousands of National Guard reserve soldiers have been deployed at the Capitol and around central Washington DC.

There was no threat to the public, officials said after Monday's lockdown. Congress is currently in recess.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden will roll out a sweeping overhaul of the nation's immigration laws the day he is inaugurated, including an eight-year pathway to citizenship for immigrants without legal status and an expansion of refugee admissions, along with an enforcement plan that deploys technology to patrol the border, The Washington Post reports.

Biden's legislative proposal, which will be sent to Congress on Wednesday, also includes a heavy focus on addressing the root causes of migration from Central America, a key part of Biden's foreign policy portfolio when he served as vice president.

The centrepiece of the plan from Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala D Harris is the eight-year pathway, which would put millions of qualifying immigrants in a temporary status for five years and then grant them a green card once they meet certain requirements such as a background check and payment of taxes.

They would be able to apply for citizenship three years later.

To qualify, immigrants must have been in the United States as of Jan 1, a move meant to blunt any rush to the border.

Beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals - which granted key protections for "dreamers" - and the temporary protected status programme for migrants from disaster-ravaged nations could apply for a green card immediately.

Another report adds: Joe Biden plans to quickly extend travel restrictions barring travel by most people who have recently been in much of Europe and Brazil soon after President Donald Trump lifted those requirements effective Jan. 26, a spokeswoman for Biden said.

Trump signed an order Monday lifting the restrictions he imposed early last year in response to the pandemic - a decision first reported Monday by Reuters - after winning support from coronavirus task force members and public health officials.

Soon after Trump's order was made public, Biden spokeswoman Jen Psaki tweeted "on the advice of our medical team, the Administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on 1/26."

She added that "With the pandemic worsening, and more contagious variants emerging around the world, this is not the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel."


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