President Donald Trump is using the COVID-19 pandemic to halt immigration to the United States for the foreseeable future, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason.
“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!,” he tweeted.
The new order will stop new work visas and green cards being issued. It is not known how long the suspension will last for or whether it affects those already in the country who have and are applying for visas.
But not all are convinced that his new order is about the pandemic.
Charanya Krishnaswami, the advocacy director for the Americas at Amnesty International USA, responded to the president’s tweet, saying:
“When you’re a xenophobe, bans on migration are the only tired, failed, hateful solution you can think of,” Ms. Krishnaswami wrote. “Suspending immigration won’t make the US — which currently leads among COVID cases worldwide — safe. Our policies need to be grounded in public health, not bigotry.”