Which Biden 2021 immigration mandates resulted in proposed or final regulations and where can those rulemaking dockets be found?
Executive summary
Multiple Biden 2021 immigration actions led to formal rulemaking or notices and had rulemaking dockets, while many were executive orders, memoranda or legislative proposals that did not themselves create Federal Register dockets. Notable items that produced proposed or final regulations or agency rulemaking activity include DHS actions around the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), enforcement-priority guidance and fee‑and‑benefit rule reviews; specific dockets and formal Federal Register rulemaking references are discussed below with source citations [1] [2] [3].
1. What Biden did on day one — many directives, few immediate rules
On January 20, 2021 the White House sent the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 to Congress and issued memoranda directing agency reviews of Trump-era rules (including the public‑charge rule) and pausing certain rules from taking effect; those are executive and congressional actions, not immediate Federal Register rulemakings, though they triggered agency rulemaking reviews [4] [2] [5].
2. Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP): from suspension to termination to litigation and rule dockets
DHS announced a suspension of MPP enrollments on Jan. 21, 2021 and later terminated the program on June 1, 2021; that termination and related administrative steps generated formal DHS record and notice materials archived by the department—those are the core administrative actions and corresponding DHS docket activity referenced by DHS’s archive on MPP [1].
3. Enforcement‑priorities guidance produced formal memoranda and spurred litigation (and regulatory tracking)
In September 2021 DHS issued enforcement‑priorities guidance; that guidance itself did not always follow notice‑and‑comment rulemaking but did generate litigation and court orders that produced formal docketed activity in the courts and administrative record. The Congressional Research Service summarizes the guidance, its legal challenges, and the resulting judicial orders [3].
4. “Dedicated docket” for families and court docketing changes — programmatic action with administrative records
The administration announced a “dedicated docket” for certain families in May 2021 to speed adjudication; that was an operational policy change in DOI/DHS/EOIR execution rather than a classic Federal Register rule, but it produced implementation memoranda, notices and court and agency records tracked by reporting organizations and advocacy groups [6] [7].
5. Rule reviews: public‑charge, fee rules and other Trump‑era regulations were flagged for reconsideration
The January directives explicitly ordered agencies to review and consider revising or rescinding rules such as the 2020 public‑charge rule and the fee increases finalized in 2020; those reviews generated agency rulemaking dockets when agencies later proposed rescissions or revisions — the White House fact sheet and AILA tracking memo record those review directives [2] [4].
6. Where to find the formal dockets and records
Available sources point readers to the responsible agencies (DHS, DOJ/EOIR, USCIS) and to the DHS archive for Migrant Protection Protocols for primary administrative materials; the DHS MPP archive is explicitly cited as the repository for the termination and related documentation [1]. AILA and other practitioner groups compiled tables of agency actions and agency Federal Register entries arising from the White House reviews [2].
7. What this reporting does not say — limits and gaps
Available sources do not provide a consolidated list of Federal Register docket numbers for every Biden 2021 immigration action; readers seeking exact docket numbers for particular proposed or final rules must consult agency Federal Register pages or the DHS/USCIS/EOIR rulemaking portals and the DHS MPP archive referenced above [1] [2]. The materials show many policy actions were executive or operational rather than classic notice‑and‑comment rules [4] [2].
8. Competing viewpoints and political context
Advocates and legal commentators framed Biden’s moves as restoration and humane reform; critics warned that programs such as dedicated dockets repeat earlier “rocket docket” failures and risked due‑process problems — reporting and analysis capture both praise for speeding cases and concern about fairness and legal vulnerability [7] [8]. The CRS account also documents litigation that limited or vacated some DHS guidance as courts weighed procedural and statutory arguments [3].
9. How to proceed if you need docket numbers now
Start with agency rulemaking pages and the DHS archive for MPP (DHS’s MPP archive is specifically cited for termination documentation), then cross‑check Federal Register entries and AILA’s first‑100‑days tracker for the year‑by‑year list of notices and final rules that arose from White House directives [1] [2]. For enforcement‑priority guidance and EOIR docketing changes consult DOJ/EOIR release pages and CRS or TRAC reports cited above for references to court filings and administrative records [3] [8].
Limitations: this summary relies on agency archives and advocacy/analyst tracking cited above; available sources do not enumerate every Federal Register docket number in a single list, so specific docket retrieval requires searching DHS/USCIS/EOIR Federal Register pages and the DHS MPP archive mentioned here [1] [2].