Which federal agencies were tasked by Biden's 2021 immigration executive orders and what were their mandates
Executive summary
President Biden’s early 2021 immigration executive actions—most notably Executive Orders 13993 (Jan. 20), 14010, 14011 and 14012 (Feb. 2)—tasked multiple federal agencies including the Departments of Homeland Security, State, Justice (Attorney General), and related components (ICE, USCIS, CBP) to review, revise, or implement new immigration policies, prioritize family reunification, and restore asylum and legal immigration systems [1] [2] [3]. The orders directed agency reviews of Trump-era rules (including asylum cooperative agreements and fee rules), created the Family Reunification Task Force, and ordered region-wide migration strategies to address root causes in Central America [4] [2] [5].
1. White House set the agenda; DHS, DOJ and State were the primary implementers
Biden’s orders explicitly named the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of State, and the Attorney General to identify and revisit agency actions that impeded access to immigration benefits and to recommend revisions or rescissions of those policies—putting DHS, State and DOJ at the center of implementation [1] [4]. The Federal Register and White House fact sheet both describe cross-agency reviews to “restore faith” in the legal immigration system and to evaluate specific rules such as asylum cooperative agreements and refugee admissions [3] [2].
2. DHS components told to rewrite enforcement priorities and unwind specific programs
The Administration required DHS and its subagencies (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) to revisit enforcement guidance and priorities during the administration’s first 100 days and to implement interim enforcement changes—directives that resulted in DHS memos and actions such as terminating the Migrant Protection Protocols (Remain in Mexico) program after review under EO 14010 [6] [7].
3. Attorney General directed to join reviews of asylum and removal policies
The executive orders ordered the Attorney General to “promptly review and determine” whether to rescind the interim final rule implementing bilateral and multilateral asylum cooperative agreements and any related memoranda or guidance—placing DOJ/Executive Office for Immigration Review into a direct role evaluating prior enforcement tools that affected asylum processing [4].
4. State Department charged with refugee admissions, special immigrant visas and regional strategy
The White House directed the Secretary of State to review refugee policy and the Special Immigrant Visa program for Afghan and Iraqi nationals, and EO 14010 called for a comprehensive regional framework to address root causes of migration in North and Central America—making State central to diplomatic, refugee-resettlement and regional development strategies [1] [5].
5. Family Reunification Task Force and domestic coordination through the White House
EO 14011 established an interagency task force to reunify families separated under prior policies, with the Domestic Policy Council coordinating federal efforts on immigrant integration and a reporting requirement back to the President; agencies were directed to review policies that had justified family separation [2] [3].
6. Agency reviews targeted specific Trump-era rules: fees, public charge, asylum cooperatives
Multiple orders required “top-to-bottom” reviews of regulations that created barriers: the 2020 USCIS fee rule, the public charge rule, and asylum cooperative agreements were explicitly flagged for review and potential reversal—tasks assigned to USCIS, DHS, State and DOJ according to the Federal Register and CRS summaries [1] [3] [4].
7. Implementation produced competing outcomes and political pushback
Sources show the orders led to concrete administrative acts—like DHS terminating MPP—and to policy work such as the development of regional migration strategies; critics and outside analysts framed the moves as reversing enforcement priorities and potentially encouraging migration, while advocates framed them as restoring due process and family unity [7] [8] [9]. Lawfare and think-tank reporting document the orders’ focus on review and multi-agency coordination but note many changes would take time to translate into programmatic relief [4] [8].
8. Limitations and what the sources do not say
Available sources do not mention a comprehensive, line-by-line list in this packet of every federal office (e.g., HHS refugee placement offices or DOJ immigration courts’ internal memoranda) and their exact statutory mandates post-order; they emphasize named cabinet secretaries and major components (DHS, State, DOJ, USCIS, ICE, CBP) as the principal actors [1] [3]. Where sources detail tasks, they focus on reviews, reports, task forces and the termination or reconsideration of specific programs rather than immediate sweeping statutory changes [2] [4].
Bottom line: Biden’s early 2021 executive orders turned the White House priority-setting into directed reviews and coordinated action across DHS, State and DOJ (with DHS components ICE, CBP and USCIS on the front lines), ordered family reunification and regional migration strategies, and tasked agencies to revisit key Trump-era rules—actions well documented in the Federal Register, White House fact sheets and DHS/agency announcements [3] [2] [7].