Trump Temporarily Suspending Immigration to the U.S. By Executive Order

Trump Temporarily Suspending Immigration to the U.S. By Executive Order

President Donald Trump announced in a tweet on Thursday night that he plans on signing an executive order temporarily suspending immigration to the United States.  In recent days, President Trump vowed to reopen the American economy and begin recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

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!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2020

The order pauses the issuance of green cards for 60 days for those living outside the United States.  Those outside of the U.S. seeking a green card through a family member are the most severely impacted.  The order makes exceptions for medical professionals, members of the military, Spouses and children under 21, and those immigrating to invest.

Currently, there are travel restrictions for Chinese and European travelers.  The U.S. essentially already has an immigration ban in effect since U.S. embassies and consulates stopped issuing visas in March.

Earlier this week, President Trump discussed the importance of international travel restrictions.  During that briefing, Trump twice mentioned his administration’s use of travel restrictions to combat coronavirus.  In a task force press briefing on Thursday President Trump said,

As we begin a science-based reopening, we must be extra vigilant in blocking the foreign entry of the virus from abroad.  Border control, travel restrictions, and other limitations on entry are more important than ever to keep the virus in check and allow Americans to get back to work.

The President referred to international travel as “dangerous” in a  subsequent remark during the same press briefing.

Economic Impacts

It is not clear who will be impacted by the executive order, as the President did not elaborate any further.  It is also unclear whether or not this executive order has gone through the policy process.  On past issues, the White House was left to respond to tweets from the President after he tweeted them.  It’s unclear if this is one of those circumstances.

Will This Impact Americans?

The order does not have anything to do with travel.  Of course, there are already some limits on travel for Americans that is unrelated to this order.

That’s likely bad news for airlines and other travel companies who want to return to normal.  Some Americans are already wary to return to international travel after the stay-at-home order end.  As airlines struggle and flights around the world — including domestic U.S. airlines — substantially decrease, its unclear how this action will help them get back to normal.

Bottom Line

It’s uncertain how this protects American jobs.  In addition, it’s also not clear how a blanket ban on immigration helps preventing the spread of coronavirus.  More so, the move comes at the same time the President discussed opening the American economy back up to get it moving.  It’s not entirely clear how closing down immigration, even temporarily, will get the economy moving again.