As 2021 Draws To A Close, There Is A Sign That The New Year May Be Better Than The Last

The direction of COVID-19 variants remains difficult to predict, but the CDC now recommends lifting the travel restrictions imposed in Proclamation 10315. And, the President, Joseph R. Biden Jr. has done that.

” In light of these changed circumstances, and based on the recommendation of the CDC, I have determined that it is in the interests of the United States to revoke Proclamation 10315. The travel restrictions imposed by that proclamation are no longer necessary to protect the public health.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and 1185(a), hereby find that, except as provided in Proclamation 10294 of October 25, 2021 (Advancing the Safe Resumption of Global Travel During the COVID-19 Pandemic), or any other applicable proclamation, the unrestricted entry into the United States of persons described in section 1 of Proclamation 10315 is no longer detrimental to the interests of the United States. I therefore hereby proclaim the following:

Section 1. Revocation. Proclamation 10315 is revoked.

Sec. 2. Review of Agency Actions. The Secretary of State, the Secretary of Transportation, and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall review any regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, and any other similar agency actions developed pursuant to Proclamation 10315 and, as appropriate, shall consider revising or revoking these agency actions consistent with the policy set forth in this proclamation.

Sec. 3. Effective Date. This proclamation is effective at 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time on December 31, 2021.

Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This proclamation shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This proclamation is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-sixth.”

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

NORKA M. SCHELL, ESQ.