President Donald Trump said late Monday night he will sign an executive order temporarily suspending immigration to the United States as the nation battles the health and economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. He took to twitter to announce this news saying: “In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!”
In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2020
Over the last four weeks, more than 20 million Americans have made jobless claims and the restriction is to curb this situation which already worsened from getting out of hand. The US has over 787,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and more than 42,000 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Last month, the US suspended almost all visa processing, including for immigrants, because of the pandemic.
The US has already agreed with both Canada and Mexico to extend border restrictions on non-essential travel until at least mid-May. On Monday, the US said it would continue to expel migrants it encounters along the border with Mexico for at least another month.
Though many think that this is Trumps efforts to aid his own agenda that from day one was to “crack down on immigrants”. Ali Noorani, the executive director of the National Immigration Forum, said on Twitter, “This is not about the policy. It is about the message the president wants to send. He wants people to turn against ‘the other.’ And, regardless of the valuable contributions immigrants are making to the response and recovery, he sees immigrants as the easiest to blame,”
This is not about the policy. It is about the message the president wants to send. He wants people to turn against “the other.” And, regardless of the valuable contributions immigrants are making to the response and recovery, he sees immigrants as the easiest to blame.
— Ali Noorani (@anoorani) April 21, 2020
Mr Trump’s announcement late on Monday comes as the White House argues the worst of the pandemic is over and the country can begin reopening. The administration recently announced an easing of rules to allow in more agricultural workers on temporary H2A visas to help farmers with their crops.
The President has made it a point to highlight that the worst of the peak has passed and encourages that the country should start opening up its economies.
