After a chaotic and deadly lame duck period, former President Donald Trump went back to Florida on Wednesday and President Joe Biden was inaugurated as President of the United States.
President Biden faces the unenviable task of beginning to undo the work of the Trump administration, particularly in regards to immigration.
From the very beginning of his 2016 campaign, Trump vilified undocumented immigrants as inherently violent and a threat to American security. Once inaugurated, Trump ordered the Justice Department to treat all illegal border crossings as criminal—not civil—offenses, a deviation from the Obama-era policy of treating these first-time crossings as civil offenses.
The decision resulted in the overcrowding of border facilities and the stratospheric expansion of family separations.
This was but one of the Trump administration's efforts to suppress immigration, joined by sweeping travel bans, asylum restrictions, and the construction of a wall at the southern border.
As part of his effort to undo these policies, President Biden will send an ambitious immigration reform bill to Congress which will provide an eight year path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants currently in the United States.
At his inauguration, Biden said:
"Disagreement must not lead to disunion. And I pledge this to you: I will be a president for all Americans. All Americans. And I promise you I will fight as hard for those who did not support me as for those who did."
Former Trump advisor and known white supremacist Stephen Miller—one of the minds behind Trump's most atrocious immigration policies—attempted to slam Biden's vow to be a President for all Americans.
Miller claimed that Biden couldn't be a President for all Americans while implementing expanded immigration policies, despite the United States' centuries-old claim to be a haven for all immigrants.
Miller's tweet was immediately decried by Twitter, with many reminding Miller of the atrocities he gleefully helped implement.
With Miller no longer tainting the White House, people proceeded to mock him.
It's unclear what Miller's next career move will be, but it's safe to say most hope he never reaches a position of power or influence again.
Jane Rosenberg
Jane Rosenberg
@arianagrande/Instagram
@arianagrande/Instagram