President Biden is expected to use his executive power this week to deny racism and xenophobia against Asian Americans, specifically targeting anti-Asian animus associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. This action is expected on Tuesday, several people familiar with the plan told CBS News.
The prescriptions, which could take the form of an executive order or a presidential memorandum, are expected to form part of a package of executive actions focusing on ‘equity’, according to two people familiar with the plans. The other administrative action is expected to focus on tribal governments, equitable housing and private prisons. The administration of Biden said outside groups were also preparing measures on the right to vote.
According to a draft calendar of threatening executive actions distributed by CBS News to outside advocacy groups, the government plans to take action on climate on Wednesday, health care on Thursday and immigration on Friday.
The Biden Transition Team and the White House Domestic Policy Council have been preparing executive actions on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for weeks, discussing three principles of the presidential order with various outside groups.
Concepts of the forthcoming executive order contain a mixture of symbolic and actual government action. Some of the elements discussed are unlikely to make the final text of the executive order, according to the people who were in conversation with the White House.
The Biden guidelines are expected to include guidelines to the Department of Justice instructing it to assist in the more accurate data collection and reporting of hate incidents and harassment against Asian Americans. According to the advocacy group Asian Americans Advancing Justice, there were more than 2,600 spontaneously reported hate incidents, ranging from racial barriers to physical violence, including acid and knife attacks.
Biden’s executive order is also expected to direct federal agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to investigate whether there are xenophobic references such as ‘China Virus’ in any existing policies, regulations or government websites run by the Trump administration. has been published.
A CBS News review of COVID-19-related executive orders issued by the Trump administration found no specific reference to ‘China virus’, the term the former president often used to refer to the Chinese government for to blame the pandemic. But if the term appears in the existing policy, the forthcoming executive action is expected to order its removal.
Advocacy groups call on the Biden government to include additional articles, such as instructing the Attorney General to investigate civil actions over anti-AAPI hatred.
During President George W. Bush’s administration, the Department of Justice has the privilege of prosecuting prejudicial crimes against Muslims, Sikhs, and people of Arab and South Asian descent. But even if President Biden’s order is mostly symbolic, many see it as a critical step away from a language used by the Trump administration. President Trump has repeatedly referred to COVID-19 as ‘The China Virus’ and ‘The Kung Flu’, which critics have called inflammatory.
It is also expected that the new order will require HHS to train in the development of language and culture guidance training related to COVID-19, including ensuring that vaccine and health information from the federal government is available in more languages, according to one of the external advisers. Broader language guidance on stereotypes and myths such as ‘model minority’ or ‘eternal stranger’ was also discussed as discussed in the White House guide.
Cynthia Choi, executive director of the Stop AAPI Hate group, said: “The idea that the President of the United States is not going to be hostile and will not be a super-distributor of hatred is incredible. I hope this order reversal of the damage done. Under the Trump administration, which used federal dollars and resources to create a hostile climate and led to a setback for our community. ”
In the additional executive actions based on ‘equity’, the Biden White House is also expected to announce a mandate to the Department of Housing and Urban Development to promote equity in housing. This order is expected to reverse a decision by the Trump administration to reverse a regulation intended to promote equitable housing.
The move is not unexpected, as President Biden has campaigned for a promise to reverse the Trump administration’s position.
One source familiar with the action tells CBS News that the announcement is expected to ‘go further’ than the 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule, which aims to hold states and communities accountable under the Fair Housing Act to keep.
The Trump administration repealed the AFFH rule in 2020, calling it a regulatory burden.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Ed O’Keefe, Sara Cook, Adam Brewster and Caitlin Huey-Burns contributed to this report.