Managing the pandemic is the priority and the point …

From Washington, DC. As he heads towards the mark of the first 100 days of government, Democrat Joe Biden keeps a good image in the North American country. The president has a 59 percent approval nearly three months after assuming the presidency of the United States, according to a study by the research center Bench who was met this week. Since the vaccination campaign, who has already realized that nearly 130 million people have received at least one dose, until economic recovery plan approved in March, the president praises its handling of the pandemic. But the new administration is struggling to tackle two of the social problems that have plagued the country for decades: immigration and possession of weapons.

Just two dots below the approval he had Barack obama in 2009 at the same height as the government, Biden seems to conform to the American people. It does so especially in the management of the coronavirus crisis. When he took office on Jan.20, it was the country’s main concern, according to the Pew Center. Now, 72 percent rate the management of vaccine production and distribution as “good” or “excellent”. It’s not just a positive look from the Democratic side, which, of course, gives 88% approval to this work. A majority of Republicans (55%) also hold this view.

Invited by the President of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, Biden is currently preparing a speech to members of both organs of the United States Congress. He will do so on April 28, when he reaches 99 mandate days. In this speech, he will highlight what the new administration considers to be its main achievements: a vaccination that has already reached more than a third of the population and the economic recovery plan.

Public support for the plan, passed without a Republican vote in Congress and promulgated by Biden just over a month ago, remains strong. Two-thirds of the population support the $ 1.9 trillion plan that has become the cornerstone of the administration’s first 100 days. Contains a shipment of $ 1,400 for approximately 280 million people, expansion of unemployment insurance, contributions for schools and public health, and assistance to state and local governments. Although part of the Democratic Party hoped the law would include setting the minimum wage at $ 15 an hour for the entire country, the initiative did not flourish and became the progressive wing’s first setback. of this new administration.

“Successful presidents, more than I, have been successful in large part because they know how to allocate time to what they do, to order it, to decide and to prioritize what needs to be done,” Biden said last month. , during his first conference. of the formal press as head of state.

Now the government’s new battle is to get approval for an infrastructure plan that doesn’t end up shaping some of its own lawmakers, who deem it unambitious and, of course, won’t find a favorable voice from the government. Republican side. The initiative, a package of two trillion dollars to invest in the next eight yearswill be Biden’s priority once the pandemic is under control. It’s about allocating hundreds of millions of dollars modernize highways, streets, bridges and transportation systems. It also aims to invest in the electric vehicles, in information technology and in housing and construction, among other sectors. Pelosi’s goal is for the House of Representatives to approve him by July 4. Whether he will succeed is still a mystery.

The initiative that seems to have been relegated to the background is immigration reform, one of the first promises of the new president. Biden’s plan is to create a pathway to legalize 11 million people who have come to the United States undocumented and eventually grant them citizenship. As the chances of Congress passing this reform diminish, the border with Mexico sees a record number of boys and girls entering the country alone. There were 18,500 in March, according to customs and border protection data released by NBC News. The figure is 60% higher than the previous record, as of May 2019.

Attempts to cross the border are also reaching their highest level in 20 years, according to the administration itself, with 170,000 registrations in March alone. Most were rejected and the government insists the numbers are normal for the time of year.

Immigration is not the only issue that over the past three months has once again been the protagonist of an agenda that seemed dominated only by the pandemic and protests for racial justice. Mass shootings have also returned to the center of the debate, prompting Biden to demand that Congress reinstate a 10-year ban on assault rifles., legislation in force between 1994 and 2004.

“It has to end. It is a national disgrace. What is happening is a national disgrace. And it’s not just these mass shootings happening. Every day there is a mass shooting in the United States if you count all those killed on the streets of our cities or in our rural areas. It is a national disgrace and it must end, ”insisted the president this week.

Last week, Biden also made another of his big announcements: the order to withdraw from Afghanistan the American troops which are still there almost two decades after the decision of George W. Bush to invade the Asian country in response to the attack on the Twin Towers.

“It is time to end the longest war in the United States,” said the president of the White House. “I am the fourth President of the United States to be in charge of the presence of American troops in Afghanistan: two Republicans and two Democrats. I will not pass this responsibility to a fourth, ”he added. The withdrawal plan will begin on May 1. Biden’s goal is for them to be out before 9/11, 20 years after the attack.