Biden revokes Trump orders on immigration, funding for ‘anarchist’ cities

President Biden on Wednesday revoked actions by former President Donald Trump that were aimed at cutting off federal funding to “anarchist” cities, restricting legal immigration during the COVID-19 pandemic, requiring classical architecture for federal buildings, enforcing work requirements for welfare recipients and other moves.

Mr. Biden also rescinded a Trump order allowing the Defense Department to exclude itself from collective bargaining requirements. And he revoked Mr. Trump’s order from 2017 establishing “core principles” for federal regulations, as well as a Trump action requiring federal agencies to waive any regulations that could hurt the economic recovery during the pandemic.

Mr. Biden said the Trump order restricting certain forms of legal immigration during the pandemic “does not advance the interests of the United States.”

“To the contrary, it harms the United States, including by preventing certain family members of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents from joining their families here,” Mr. Biden said.

Business groups had urged the Trump administration to lift its suspensions on work visas, saying the action hurt efforts to recruit professional workers from other countries.

Last September, after cities were roiled by riots and violent protests, Mr. Trump issued a memo aimed at restricting federal funding to cities that “defund” their police departments. He singled out such movements particularly in New York City, Seattle and Portland, Oregon.

“My administration will not allow federal tax dollars to fund cities that allow themselves to deteriorate into lawless zones,” Mr. Trump said.

The directive had no practical impact, as Mr. Trump lost the election two months later.

Mr. Trump’s order in 2018 on welfare had sought to enforce work requirements, and to empower states to pursue policies that allowed private sector and faith-based groups to “create solutions that alleviate the need for welfare assistance, promote personal responsibility, and reduce reliance on government intervention and resources.”