On his first day in office next month, US president-elect Joe Biden is set to reverse Donald Trump’s travel ban on 13 majority-Muslim and African nations.
The restrictions on entry for citizens of these countries, described by Mr Trump as a “Muslim ban” during his presidential campaign, were imposed by executive order shortly after he took office in January 2017.
The ban was rewritten after legal challenges and its current format was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.
But with Mr Biden taking office on January 20, the travel ban and almost 100 other executive orders issued by Mr Trump could be scrapped.
Under US law, executive orders can be overturned by Congress, the Supreme Court or a sitting president.
Every new president reviews the orders issued by their predecessor and can choose to revoke them with another executive order.
The Biden campaign said four days after the November 3 election that the incoming president planned to reverse many of Mr Trump’s decisions.
These include the travel ban, and returning to the Paris climate agreement and World Health Organisation.
During his campaign, Mr Biden told the Muslim-American group Emgage Action that he was committed to scrapping the ban on his first day in office.
"If I have the honour of being president, I will end the Muslim ban on day one," he said.
The US House of Representatives voted to reverse Mr Trump's travel ban this summer but the bill was not taken up in the Senate.
The No Ban Act would impose limits “on the president's authority to suspend or restrict aliens from entering the United States”, according to a Congressional summary.
It also “prohibits religious discrimination in various immigration-related decisions”.
Mr Biden wants Congress to pass laws to fight the surging number of hate crimes in the US.
“As president, I’ll work with you to rip the poison of hate from our society to honour your contributions and seek your ideas," he said in October.
"My administration will look like America, with Muslim Americans serving at every level."
Hate crimes in the US surged to a record level in 2019, according to an annual report released by the FBI last month.
The US had more hate crimes last year than in any year since 1992 when the FBI started collecting such data.
Fifty-one people were killed in hate crimes in 2019 – a 112 per cent increase from the year before.
But even if Mr Biden issues executive orders to revoke Mr Trump's, they can be challenged in court by pro-Trump groups and could set up early legal battles for the new administration.
Mr Trump attacked the president-elect during the campaign for his intention to lift the travel ban.
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Gallery: Joe Biden's diverse Cabinet
Fixtures
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Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
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MATCH INFO
Barcelona v Real Madrid, 11pm UAE
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Abu Dhabi traffic facts
Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.
The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.
Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019
Company%20profile
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On racial profiling at airports
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
