BORDER IS MAINLY SHUT
Migration by all to U.S. ended by Trump
The Trump administration took a series of drastic and controversial actions Friday to slow down the spread of the coronavirus, including largely shutting down the Mexican border, suspending all migration to the U.S. and activating wartime emergency powers to ramp up production of sorely needed medical supplies.
President Trump and members of his Cabinet announced the new measures in a combative briefing at the White House, in which the commander-inchief alternated between touting his administration’s “war” on the virus and verbally attacking reporters for asking him about specifics on the U.S. pandemic response.
The border announcement brings Mexico into the same category as Canada, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, meaning all nonessential travel will be suspended in both directions, though trade and emergency services remain permissible.
The strict blockade may prove more beneficial to Mexico, which only had 118 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Friday, compared to more than 14,000 in the U.S.
Citing an arcane public health law from 1944, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar followed Pompeo’s lead by announcing that the U.S. will also suspend all entry of migrants — an order that will likely draw backlash from advocates.
“A number of health challenges arise when illegal immigrants arrive at our northern and southern borders,” Azar said.
Trump, who recently began shifting his tone on the virus after downplaying its severity for weeks, said he had put the Defense Production Act of 1950 “in gear” late Thursday, seeking to set the record straight amid the confusion that he had signed the action Wednesday without activating it.
The Korean War-era law allows the president to direct medical supply producers to speed up manufacturing of hospital beds, ventilators, masks and other critical gear that hospitals in New York City and elsewhere are experiencing severe shortages of amid an uptick of coronavirus patients.
“We have millions of masks that will be coming and distributed to the states,” Trump said.
But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Trump’s comments on the Defense Production Act weren’t accurate.
In a morning call before the White House briefing, Trump told Schumer that he had not yet formally invoked the law, according to Angelo Roefaro, a spokesman for the New York senator.
“The president told Schumer he would, and then the president yelled to someone in his office to ‘do it now,’” Roefaro told the Daily News.
Trump did not address the apparent confusion in his briefing and instead offered a positive projection.
“We are winning and we are going to win this war,” he said.
The beleaguered president also lashed out after a reporter asked what message he has for Americans who are terrified and stuck in their homes because of the virus.
“I say that you’re a terrible reporter,” Trump snapped at the journalist, Peter Alexander of NBC News, striking a seething tone at a time when Americans are turning to the White House for answers. “That’s what I say. I think that’s a very nasty question.”
More than 14,000 people have now been infected by the coronavirus in the U.S. and at least 200 have died.
New York has become the worst-hit state, with more than 7,000 confirmed cases, prompting Gov. Cuomo to announce a sweeping lockdown Friday. More than half of New York’s cases are in the city.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans have been forced out of work and into quarantine because of the virus, resulting in sharp selloffs on Wall Street and mass unemployment. Many economists say a 2020 recession appears to be all but a certainty.
While Congress hammers out a $1 trillion economic relief plan to help Americans in financial disarray, Trump announced at his briefing that his administration is suspending interest on student loans to help young people cope with job losses. The administration is also pushing back the April 15 tax filing deadline until July 15, Trump said.
While the president’s tone has sobered in recent days, he kept referring to the coronavirus as the “Chinese virus” despite widespread complaints that the label is racist. Reluctant to sidestep his boss, Pompeo also used the divisive moniker Friday.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of Trump’s coronavirus task force and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, had to correct Trump while the TV cameras were rolling after the president inaccurately insisted an anti-malaria drug could be used for treating the virus.
“The evidence you are talking about is anecdotal,” Fauci said. “We’re trying to strike a balance.”
During his call with Trump, Schumer said he tried to push the president to commit to supporting legislation ensuring that workers receive paid sick leave and unemployment insurance if they lose their livelihood because of the virus.
But Schumer said the president appeared non-committal, as Republicans are pushing another stimulus agenda that prioritizes bailouts for hard-hit industries and one-time free money subsidies to most Americans.