Donald Trump suspends the issuance of new green cards for 60 days



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WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump has said he will suspend the issuance of new green cards or lawful permanent residence for the next 60 days as part of his executive order to temporarily suspend immigration to the United States.
However, the measure will have no impact on those who enter the country temporarily, Trump said Tuesday.
Many have interpreted that those with nonimmigrant work visas like H-1B issued primarily to foreign technology professionals will not be affected. Seasonal migrant farm workers will also not be affected.
In any case, the executive order that Trump will sign on Wednesday will affect large numbers of tens and thousands of American Indians waiting to get a green card. This is expected to further delay the process.
“We must first take care of the American worker … This pause will be valid for 60 days, after which I and a group of people will evaluate the need for any extension or modification based on the economic conditions of the time.” Trump told reporters at his daily White House press conference about the coronavirus.
“This order will only apply to people seeking permanent residence, in other words, those who receive green cards, an important factor, will not apply to those who enter temporarily,” he said.
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Without elaborating, he said there will be exemptions.
“Some people will be able to get in. We have to do that, obviously, even from a human point of view,” he said.
“We have a solemn duty to ensure that these unemployed Americans regain their jobs and livelihoods. Therefore, to protect American workers, I will issue a temporary suspension of immigration to the United States. ”
“He found out about that last night. By pausing immigration, we will help jobless Americans be first in line for jobs as the United States reopens,” he said.
It would be wrong and unfair for Americans fired by the virus to be replaced by new immigrant workers sent from abroad, he said.
Trump said that in the future, his administration will examine what additional immigration-related measures should be implemented to protect American workers.
“We want to protect our American workers, and I think that as we move forward, we will be increasingly protective of them,” he said, noting that more such measures are being prepared.
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, more than 22 million American workers have applied for unemployment benefits, which is a record in itself.
In the coming weeks, several million more are expected to be laid off as the United States’ economy is in ruins.
Trump said this pause in new immigration will also help preserve vital medical resources for American citizens.
“A short break from the new immigration, depending on the time we are talking about, will protect the solvency of our health system and provide relief to unemployed Americans,” he said.
Responding to questions, Trump explained that he has to take this unprecedented move due to the massive impact that the coronavirus is having on the United States economy.
“The last thing we want to do is take the jobs of American workers. It’s one thing when we were essentially: they used to call it full employment and it’s something else right now, “he said.
“Right now, we have people who have lost their jobs and we hope they will come back and come back quickly and then we can have an even deeper discussion. But right now, we have to have jobs for Americans, “he said. According to a recent report from the Congressional Research Service, there are currently almost 1 million foreign workers legally present and their families waiting to receive a green card.
This employment-based order book is projected to double by fiscal year 2030.
“Under current law, and due to a limited number of green card issues, the current order book of 568,414 Indian citizens would require an estimated 195 years to disappear,” said CRS.
Under existing law, the United States can issue a maximum of 1,40,000 employment-based green cards each year with a country limit of seven percent.
Consequently, in fiscal year 2019, Indian citizens received 9,008 category 1 (EB1), 2,908 category 2 (EB2) and 5,083 category 3 green cards (EB3). EB1-3 are different categories of employment-based green cards.
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