Going into 2021, we, The Journal, had high hopes for the new presidency that we were about to watch unfold. Though President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris did not have a perfect track record, they were the best option to fill the office. 

It’s not that we no longer believe in this presidency since we cannot accurately judge it before the first 100 days are up. But Biden has not upheld some of his initial promises, and The Journal believes he should be held accountable. 

One of President Donald Trump’s greatest faults in his presidency was his administration’s overall negative attitude towards immigration. To fix this, Biden currently has a plan in the works to create a legal way to American citizenship for millions of immigrants, according to the New York Times. 

But that doesn’t mean that he hasn’t made other promises regarding immigration that have not been entirely upheld. According to PolitiFact, Biden stated that no one would be deported in his first 100 days during a debate last year. 

Following this statement, in January, former secretary of Homeland Security David Pekoske called for a 100-day pause on deportations. However, this action was met with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton suing the administration. Not even a week later, the Associated Press reported that ICE had already deported hundreds of people so far this year. 

While the root cause of these deportations is uncertain, one thing is certain. Biden’s initial promise on deportations has not been realized. Though he may not be completely at fault, his team and his supporters need to hold him accountable. The people voted for positive change, and in this regard, they have not seen it. 

Beyond that, Biden has previously made promises of diplomacy and improving foreign relations. We all saw how scary and harmful Trump’s airstrike was last January, but Biden apparently had no plan of stopping that as he approved the U.S.’s airstrike in Syria on Feb. 25.

While the New York Times reports that Biden chose a less violent option in bombing Syria, the airstrike still killed a handful of people. But they also report that no one has explicitly stated how many people that event injured or killed.

Bombing a foreign country, though there was strategy behind the time and place, is not something that will improve foreign relations. Rather, it is something that will continue to separate the U.S. from foreign countries and show this country’s ability to carry out acts similar to war crimes. 

Disputes about who is really at fault could go on all day. But at the end of it all, someone has to take responsibility. And as the leader of this nation, Biden needs to turn around the negative impact of these actions soon. 

As stated previously, it’s not that The Journal believes Biden and his administration are a lost cause. They have done plenty of good to decrease the negative impact of COVID-19 and have ensured widespread access to vaccinations. 

But sometimes the good does not outweigh the bad. Though we are obviously grateful for the future Biden could provide us with, he still needs to be held accountable. His actions need to be put in the limelight so that he and the rest of the U.S. can continue to fight for a better tomorrow.