WASHINGTON – President Trump is considering new immigration rules that could allow border officials to temporarily block a U.S. citizen as a legal permanent resident from returning to the United States if authorities have reason to believe the person may be infected with the coronavirus.
In recent months, Mr. Trump has imposed floating rules that prohibit entry by foreigners into the United States, with the risk that the virus could spread from hot spots abroad. But those rules have exempted two categories of people seeking to return: U.S. citizens and foreigners who have already established legal residence.
Now a draft regulation would change that effort by extending the power of the government to prevent entry by citizens and legal residents into individual, restricted circumstances. Federal agencies were asked Tuesday to provide feedback on the proposal to the White House, though it is not clear when it could be approved or announced.
Under the proposal, which relies on existing legal authorities from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to protect the country, the government could block a citizen or legal resident from crossing the border into the United States as an official. “it is reasonable to assume that the individual may or may not have been exposed to or infected with the communicable disease.”
The concept, parts of which were obtained by The New York Times, explicitly states that any order that blocks 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.
The documents do not appear to detail how long a citizen as a legal resident would be required to remain outside the United States.
“CDC expects that any ban on the introduction of U.S. citizens as LPRs from abroad would apply only in the rarest of circumstances,” the concept says, referring to legal permanent residents, “as necessary in the interest of public health, and be limited. in time. “
Still, if Mr. Trump approves the change, it would be an escalation of his administration’s years of trying to seal the border against what he sees as threats, using the existence of the coronavirus pandemic as justification for action. take what would be seen as draconian in other contexts.
A Homeland Security spokeswoman declined to comment. A CDC spokesman said late Monday afternoon that he would try to gather more information about the proposal.
It is unclear whether there are existing rules that could allow U.S. citizens and legal residents to be prohibited from returning to the United States because of concerns about a communicable disease. Immigration officials have broad authority to deny access to people based on national security concerns.
The rule appears to apply to all entry points in the United States, including at airports and along both the northern and southern borders. In particular, the design could affect the border with Mexico, where many U.S. citizens and legal residents often cross back and forth.
The rule cites the prevalence of coronavirus in Mexico as evidence of the need for the amended rule, citing the recent death of Chihuahua’s health minister in the border state, who says the order died of Covid-19 , the disease caused by the coronavirus, after a two-week hospitalization.
“As indicated, the stress that Covid-19 has placed on the Mexican health care system has put U.S. citizens, LPRs and others from Mexico in the United States seeking care,” the draft regulation says.
The concept of the proposed amendment goes to great lengths to assess the legality of blocking citizens and legal residents based on concerns about the threat of disease entering the United States. But legal experts doubt the constitutionality of such a ban, even if temporary.
“Barriers to U.S. citizens from the United States are unconstitutional,” said Omar Jadwat, director of the Immigrants’ Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. “The Trump administration has imposed one border ban after another – mostly on children and asylum seekers – using Covid-19 as an excuse, by failing abysmically to bring the virus under control in the United States. The rumored order would be another big mistake in a year that has already seen far too much. ”
An earlier lawsuit challenged the government’s ability to use public health laws to close the border. Carl J. Nichols, a judge recently appointed to the Federal Reserve by Mr. Trump, ruled against that government in that case – in part because of the potential implications for U.S. citizens such as the practice of crossing borders. could continue.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Updated August 6, 2020
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Why are bars linked to outbreaks?
- Think about a bar. Alcohol flows. It may be loud, but it’s perfectly intimate, and you often have to pull close to hear your friend. And strangers have way, way less reservations about arriving at people in a bar. That’s kind of the point of a beam. Feeling good and close to strangers. It is therefore no surprise that bars have been linked to outbreaks in several states. Louisiana health officials have linked at least 100 cases of coronavirus to bars in the Tigerland nightlife district of Baton Rouge. Minnesota has 328 recent cases to track around the state. In Idaho, health officials close down bars in Ada County after reporting clusters of infections among young adults who visited several bars in Boise downtown. Drivers in California, Texas and Arizona, where cases of coronavirus have increased, have lined up hundreds of newly opened bars to close. Less than two weeks after Colorado’s bars were again restricted to limited capacity, Gov. Jared Polis has closed.
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I have antibodies. Am I immune now?
- At the moment, that probably seems like at least several months. There have been horrific accounts of people suffering what appears to be a second bolt of Covid-19. But experts say these patients may have a prolonged course of infection, with the virus taking a slow toll weeks to months after initial exposure. People infected with the coronavirus typically produce immune molecules called antibodies, which are protective proteins made in response to an infection. These antibodies may only last two to three months in the body, which may seem worrying, but that is perfectly normal after an acute infection progresses, said Dr. Michael Mina, an immunologist at Harvard University. It could possibly get the coronavirus back up, but it is highly unlikely that it would be possible in a short window of time from initial infection or the second time safe.
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I am a small business owner. Can I get relief?
- The incentive letters introduced in March offer help to the millions of American small businesses. Those eligible for assistance are non-profit companies and organizations with less than 500 workers, including sole proprietorships, independent contractors and freelancers. Some larger companies in some sectors are also eligible. The assistance provided, which is managed by the Small Business Administration, includes the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Damage Disaster Program. But many people have not yet seen benefits. Even those who have received help are confused: the rules are draconian, and some are stuck on money they do not know how to use. Many small business owners get less than they expected or heard nothing at all.
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What are my rights if I am worried about returning to work?
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What will school look like in September?
- It is unlikely that many schools will return to a normal schedule this fall, requiring grinding online learning, probationary childcare and stunted workdays to continue. California’s two largest public school districts – Los Angeles and San Diego – said on July 13 that instruction will be remote only in the fall, citing concerns that growing coronavirus infections in their areas pose too great a risk to students and teachers. Together, the two districts enroll about 825,000 students. They are the largest in the country to date to abandon plans for even a partial physical return to classes when they reopen in August. For other districts, the solution will not be an all-or-nothing approach. Many systems, including the nation’s largest, New York City, are hybrid plans to spend some days in classrooms and other days online. There is no national policy yet, so check regularly with your municipal school system to see what is happening in your municipality.
But the practice remained in place, because the government then agreed not to expel the migrant children mentioned in the name, which it had to give.
In that case, JBBC v. Wolf, Judge Nichols, of the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia, several times a lawyer of the government or the administration believed that it had the legal right to expel a U.S. citizen in the first place.
The judge asked about a hypothetical Ebola outbreak in which the CDC was concerned about people coming from Mexico. “The CDC, I take it, in your opinion, would have the power to ban all access from Mexico to the United States by anyone,” including citizens, the judge said.
“Yes, your honor,” replied the lawyer. “It says individuals, and that would include both citizens and non-citizens.” The judge replied that this was a “remarkably broad power.”
The possible change in regulations is part of a pattern in recent months in which the Trump administration has sought to more critically restrict entry into the country – not only from illegal immigrants, but also from legal ones.
Stephen Miller, the architect of the president’s attack on immigration, has been aggressively pushing for years to stem the flow of migration. Some of his attempts have been successful, including a program to return asylum seekers to Mexico to await processing and new rules on those seeking green cards to legally reside and work in the United States.
But other efforts by Mr Miller and the administration have been blocked by legal action. Since the pandemic began, they have aggressively moved to set up some of the same restrictions in the name of protecting Americans from the spread of the virus.
In addition to announcing health care to suspend the nation’s asylum program, the president ordered a temporary halt to the issuance of green cards and has suspended the issuance of many work visas aimed at allowing foreigners to work legally in the United States.
Immigrant rights organizations have criticized recent efforts, saying they fear the Trump administration will not lift the tough restrictions on immigration once the threat of the pandemic is over.
