TRUMP TO SUSPEND MIGRATION INTO US OVER PANDEMIC
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he would suspend all immigration into the United States temporarily through an executive order in response to the coronavirus outbreak and to protect American jobs.
The move, which the Republican president announced on Twitter, effectively achieves a long-term Trump policy goal to curb immigration, making use of the health and economic crisis that has swept the country as a result of the pandemic to do so.
The decision drew swift condemnation from some Democrats, who accused the president of creating a distraction from what they view as a slow and faulty response to the coronavirus.
Trump said he was taking the action to protect the US workforce. Millions of Americans are suffering unemployment after companies shed employees amid nationwide lockdowns to stop the contagion.
“In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States,” Trump said in a tweet.
“As our country battles the pandemic, as workers put their lives on the line, the President attacks immigrants & blames others for his own failures,” former Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar said.
Immigration is largely halted into the United States anyway thanks to border restrictions and flight bans put in place as the virus spread across the globe.
The US death toll from the virus topped 42,000 on Monday with 784,000 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The US economy has come to a near standstill because of the pandemic; more than 22 million people applied for unemployment benefits last month.
“You cut off immigration, you crater our nation’s already weakened economy,” former Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro said. “What a dumb MOVE.”—REUTERS