Biden ends travel ban on Nigeria, Sudan, others

U.S President Joe Biden on his first day in office issued some executive orders undoing some of former President Donald Trump’s policies.

Among the 17 executive orders and presidential actions Biden signed on Wednesday were the order to end travel restrictions and immigration from countries including Nigeria, Eritrea, Yemen, Sudan and others.

“There’s no time to waste,” Biden said before signing the executive orders in the White House.

“These are just all starting points,” he added.

The American Civil Liberties Union, a non-profit civil rights organisation, applauded the move calling the travel policy a “cruel Muslim ban that targeted Africans.”

However, the ban was changed, in part due to legal challenges, and included some non majority-Muslim nations.

President Biden described the policy as discriminatory and an affront to the country’s values.

The President has also sent a bill to Congress to overhaul the country’s immigration system, his team said earlier.

The legislation aims to provide pathways to US citizenship for undocumented people, address the causes of migration and speed up the reunification of families after children were separated from parents at the US border with Mexico.