Donald Trump is considering blocking an entrance into the United States for U.S. citizens and legal residents returning from coronavirus hotspots
- Federal officials have been asked to present their views on a plan
- The proposal could block U.S. citizens and legal residents from returning to the states
- The draft memo was obtained by The New York Times
- The memo states that the rules ‘would only apply’
- They would be used ‘as necessary in the interest of public health’
Donald Trump is considering a new proposal that would prevent U.S. citizens and legal residents from returning to the United States, if it is believed they could be infected with coronavirus.
Many countries have already put travel restrictions in place, and some have closed their borders, but most allow their own citizens to return.
Federal agencies have been asked until Tuesday to submit feedback on the proposal to the White House, the New York Times reported Monday.
Donald Trump, pictured on Monday, is said to be considering a proposal to restrict entry to citizens and legal residents
The plan would see U.S. citizens not enter the country from COVID hot spots
Currently, the United States bans entry from Brazil, China, Europe and the United Kingdom, excluding legal residents and citizens.
New Zealand allows no one but citizens to return from anywhere – and citizens must enter a quarantine in a government hotel.
Japan has been blocking permanent and long-term residents from returning since April. Citizens can still enter.
Under the new proposal, which relies on existing legal authorities from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the government could block a citizen or legal resident from crossing the border into the United States if an official ‘reasonably thinks so’. the individual may either have been exposed to or infected with the communicable disease. ‘
The concept, parts of which were acquired by The Times, explicitly states that any order blocking citizens and legal permanent residents must ‘include appropriate protections to ensure that no constitutional rights are infringed.’
And it says citizens and legal residents can not be blocked as a whole class of people.
Cars set up to cross the US-Mexico border between Tijuana and San Diego
The president has yet to make a decision on the plan, which would have an enormous impact
The documents do not indicate how long a citizen as a legal resident needs to stay outside the United States.
The draft memo states that the ban on the introduction of American citizens as legal residents from abroad ‘would apply only in the rarest of circumstances’, and’ if necessary in the interests of public health, and in the long run be limited . ‘
The rule would have dramatic implications for the southern border, where U.S. citizens and legal residents often cross over to Mexico and back.
Canada closes its border with the United States on March 21, and only Canadian citizens can cross.
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