President Biden’s Executive Orders Address Issues Attorney General James Sued Trump Administration Over

 Multiple Executive Orders Signed, Including Those Protecting Census, Dreamers,
and Against Discrimination on Basis of Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today celebrated multiple executive orders signed by President Joseph Biden hours after he was inaugurated as the 46^th president of the United States. The measures taken range from those affecting racial and social equity, civil rights, immigration, the climate crisis, and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis, among other issues of national importance. Three of the executive orders, specifically, are aimed at issues raised in lawsuits Attorney General James led against the Trump Administration, including those affecting apportionment of representatives following the 2020 Decennial Census; the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program; and protections for LGBTQ+ individuals.

“Over the last two years, my office stood up and fought the Trump Administration every time it tried to trample on the rights of New Yorkers and Americans across the country,” said Attorney General James. “We filed 76 lawsuits against an administration that was hostile towards women, immigrants, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, workers, and countless others. But, today, we can all breathe a sigh of relief now that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been sworn in as president and vice president of the United States. Within hours of taking the oath of office, President Biden showed decisive leadership and took action to protect young Dreamers, women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and millions of others across the United States. This nation is a better and safer place tonight thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration.”

2020 Decennial Census

Last July, Attorney General James led a coalition of states, cities, and counties in filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration after it announced it would leave millions of undocumented immigrants out of the apportionment base that followed the census count. The lawsuit sought to stop the Trump Administration from violating the longstanding constitutional and statutory requirements to count the “whole number of persons” residing in each state for apportionment, without regard to immigration status. Multiple legal actions followed the suit. Attorney General James also previously led the filing of a multitude of other legal actions against the Trump Administration on the census, including one that led to a victory at the U.S. Supreme Court.

President Biden today signed an executive order rescinding a Trump Administration memorandum that sought to unlawfully leave undocumented immigrants out of the apportionment base following the census.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)

Last August, Attorney General James led a coalition of 17 attorneys general from the around the nation in filing an amended lawsuit against the Trump Administration for threatening more than 700,000 Dreamers currently registered for the DACA program with deportation. DACA is an Obama era policy that has allowed hundreds of thousands of young people to live, study, and work in the United States, and to become stable and even more productive members of their communities, without fear that they could be arrested and placed in deportation proceedings at any moment. Multiple legal actions followed the suit. Attorney General James also previously led the filing of a multitude of other legal actions against the Trump Administration related to DACA, including one that led to a victory at the U.S. Supreme Court.

President Biden today signed an executive order rescinding the Trump Administration policy that threatened these 700,000 young people with deportation.

Protecting the LGBTQ+ Community from Discrimination

Last July, Attorney General James led a coalition of 23 attorneys general from around the nation in filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration for introducing a rule that would make it easier for health care providers and insurance companies to discriminate against certain vulnerable and protected classes of Americans. The rule emboldened providers and insurers to discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals, those with limited English proficiency, and women, among others, by stripping express protections for these groups in HHS regulations that implement Section 1557 — or the nondiscrimination provision — of the ACA. Additional legal actions followed the suit.

President Biden today signed an executive order rescinding the Trump Administration rule that threatened LGBTQ+ individuals.