said on Tuesday he will issue an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration to the United States to protect U.S. workers amid the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.
The order will not affect people entering on temporary non-immigrant visas, he said. Such visas are used by tourists, business travelers and foreign workers. Trump did not say what the executive order would mean for people who have immigrant visas and jobs secured in the United States but have not yet moved to the United States.The suspension will last 60 days, according to Trump. After that, the president said he will review U.S. economic conditions and decide whether it should be extended. Future extensions could potentially be longer than 60 days, Trump said.
Some legal experts argue the court’s ruling does not permit a broad, worldwide ban on immigration into the United States and expect any order to be challenged in court. Well before the pandemic, Trump had issued travel bans for national security reasons. In late January, he added Nigeria and five other countries to a list of countries subject to visa restrictions.The United States suspended routine visa services in most countries worldwide on March 18 due to the coronavirus outbreak, which was expected to dramatically slow legal immigration.