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President Donald Trump has said he will temporarily suspend all immigration to the United States through an executive order in response to the coronavirus outbreak and to protect jobs in the United States.
The move, which the Republican President announced on Twitter, effectively achieves one of Trump’s long-term policy goals of curbing immigration, making use of the economic and health crisis that has swept the country as a result of the pandemic to do so. .
The decision sparked swift condemnation from Democrats, but Trump said he was taking steps to protect the U.S. workforce.
Millions of Americans are experiencing unemployment after companies laid off their employees amid nationwide lockouts to stop the spread.
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“In light of the attack by the invisible enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American citizens, I will sign an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration to the United States,” Trump said in a tweet at the bottom of the page. Monday night.
The White House declined to offer further details on the reasoning behind the decision, its timing, or its legal basis.
Trump won the White House in 2016 in part with a promise to curb immigration by building a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico.
He and his advisers have spent the first three years of his tenure cracking down on legal and illegal entry into the country.
“Immigration is cut, crater in our nation’s already weakened economy,” former Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro said in a tweet. “What a silly move.”
The development comes as the death toll in the United States from the virus exceeded 42,000 on Monday, according to a Reuters count.
The United States economy has stagnated due to the pandemic; More than 22 million people applied for unemployment benefits in the past month.
“It makes sense to protect opportunities for our workforce as this pandemic unfolds,” said Thomas Homan, a former acting Trump chief of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service.
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“It really isn’t about immigration. It’s about the pandemic and keeping our country safer while protecting opportunities for unemployed Americans.”
The United States has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the world, with more than 780,000 infections, 27,000 more on Monday.
But the president has said that the peak has passed and has been encouraging US states. USA To reopen their economies.
In mid-March, the United States suspended all routine visa services, both immigrant and non-immigrant, in most countries of the world due to the coronavirus outbreak to an extent that has potentially impacted hundreds of thousands of people.
US missions continued to provide emergency visa services as resources allowed, and a senior State Department official in late March said the United States was ready to work with people who were already identified as eligible for various types of visas. , including one for medical professionals.
The administration recently announced a loosening of the rules to allow more farm workers on temporary H2A visas to help farmers with their crops.
It occurs when thousands of Americans are raising their weapons in protest at the blockade, raising fears of all-out war.
Protesters challenge stay-at-home orders for state governors and demand that they be released.
Extreme right-wing extremists, religious fundamentalists and armed militias are infiltrating the demonstrations, according to an investigation by Mirror.
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