Trump’s threat to end immigration to the US, explained

Trump’s threat to end immigration to the US, explained

President Donald Trump speaks at the daily coronavirus briefing at the White House on April 20. | Alex Wong/Getty Images

Trump has already restricted immigration during the coronavirus pandemic. Now he wants to go a step further. 

President Donald Trump tweeted on Monday night that he is planning to sign an executive order temporarily suspending immigration to the US, saying it’s needed to stem the spread of coronavirus and protect American jobs.

The executive order, which Trump is expected to issue later this week, is still being finalized. Many questions remain about how it would play out in practice or how many people it would affect.

The order would reportedly block the issuance of new green cards and work visas temporarily with exemptions for some workers in essential fields, including health care workers and farmworkers, for roughly 120 days, according to the New York Times. Alternatively, officials are also considering expanding Trump’s existing travel restrictions to more countries, CNN reported.

Trump has already shut down many parts of the immigration system: Migrants on the southern border are being turned away and foreign consulates are no longer processing visas. Travelers from China and Europe are banned from entering the US.

But the president wants to go further: “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 tweeted.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany claimed in a statement on Tuesday that the action was necessary “at a time when Americans are looking to get back to work.”

As the coronavirus pandemic and the associated economic fallout has worsened, the Trump administration has shied away from aggressive action on addressing issues with testing and shortages of medical equipment. They’ve been much less reluctant to crack down on immigration — seizing the opportunity to advance the restrictionist immigration policies the president has pursued for years.

Trump has already significantly restricted immigration

The Trump administration has already restricted immigration amid the pandemic. It’s not yet clear how and where the proposed executive order might go further.

In March, the State Department suspended routine visa processing at its consulates and embassies abroad, which has significantly slowed legal immigration. Some 9.2 million visas were issued at consulates and embassies abroad in 2019.

The US’s borders with Canada and Mexico are also closed for nonessential travel.

The Trump administration has also implemented a system to swiftly turn away migrants arriving on the southern border amid the pandemic. Migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras are processed in the field rather than inside US Border Patrol station and, without so much as a medical exam, are sent back to Mexico in an average of 96 minutes, the Texas Tribune reported.

The administration had further postponed all court dates prior to April 22 for migrants in the “Remain in Mexico” program who have been sent back to Mexico while they wait for the outcome of their asylum applications in the US. Their applications will now be delayed.

Trump also restricted travel from China and Europe, which he has repeatedly touted as key to keeping coronavirus at bay in the US. The US, however, now has more reported coronavirus cases than any other country worldwide, even though testing capacity is still well below that of some other developed countries.

All of these restrictions taken together have already made it much more difficult for legal immigrants applying for visas abroad, asylum seekers at the southern border and citizens of China and Europe to come to the US. It’s not clear how much farther Trump’s executive order could go.

While immigrants can’t apply for visas and green cards abroad right now, those already residing in the US on a visa can still do so. But it’s not clear whether they, too, will face difficulties renewing or switching their visas or converting their visas into a green card under the proposed executive order.

If the final version of the executive order suspends all immigration, it would likely be unconstitutional, Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor at Cornell Law School, said.

“It is one thing to suspend immigration for certain categories of people such as terrorists,” he said. “It is quite another to suspend all immigration. We have never done that before, even during world wars. Litigation is sure to challenge any such executive order.”

A broad ban on immigration could devastate essential industries

If the executive order does not exempt workers in essential fields, it could have a devastating effect on health care and agriculture.

As patient demand continues to increase nationwide and more health care workers are unable to show up for work, either because they contract the virus or because they have to self-quarantine, many hospitals are facing staff shortages.

The US health system already relies heavily on immigrants, who make up 17 percent of all health care workers and more than one in four doctors. And some states have sought to increase staff by waiving licensing requirements for foreign medical school graduates so they can contribute to the coronavirus response.

Farmers have also been voicing concerns about potential labor shortages amid the pandemic that could threaten the food supply. They rely on seasonal agricultural workers, many of whom come to the US from Mexico on H-2A visas.

The US State Department recently eased restrictions on these workers, who numbered more than 250,000 in 2019, eliminating requirements that they show up for in-person interviews. That means that farms should still be able to access these workers, despite the fact that the agency shut down visa processing across Mexico. The Department of Homeland Security also announced last week that it would allow H-2A workers to more easily switch employers and stay in the US beyond the three-year period that their visas remain valid.

Still, farmers worry about visa processing delays, and about the prospect that fewer workers may want to risk coming to the US this year amid the pandemic.


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Author: Nicole Narea

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