The US economy depends on immigrants who fill necessary positions that help boost many industries. Trump's extended halt on immigration could have negative consequences for Americans.

• On Monday, President Donald Trump extended a freeze on immigration visas.
• Trump cited the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic for the move, saying that jobs should be reserved for Americans.
• The decision is in line with the Trump administration's broader efforts to limit immigration and plays on rhetoric that immigrants steal jobs.
• Data has shown, however, that immigrants help create jobs and normally work in positions that complement the work of Americans.

On Monday, President Donald Trump extended a freeze on immigration visas through the end of the year, arguing that it would help protect as many as 525,000 jobs for Americans in an economy shaken by the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump signed a proclamation meant to extend the 60-day freeze on work visas, put in place in April, until the end of 2020. It affects H-1B, H-2B, H-4, J-1, and L-1 visas.

"American workers compete against foreign nationals for jobs in every sector of our economy, including against millions of aliens who enter the United States to perform temporary work," the proclamation says. "Under ordinary circumstances, properly administered temporary worker programs can provide benefits to the economy. But under the extraordinary circumstances of the economic contraction resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak, certain nonimmigrant visa programs authorizing such employment pose an unusual threat to the employment of American workers."

The measure is in line with a history of efforts by the Trump administration to limit immigration under the assumption that immigrants steal jobs from Americans.

This proclamation would affect jobs in the tech industry, jobs at universities, as well as au pairs.

According to PBS, immigrants tend to hold jobs that usually complement American workers or make it easier for Americans to do their jobs. They tend to work odd hours and in more dangerous conditions.

Au pairs or other childcare providers, for instance, help allow Americans, especially women, to enter the workforce. Immigrants are also taking up jobs to take care of the US elderly population, PBS reported.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 17% of the labor force last year were immigrants; however, they're mostly filling jobs Americans don't want or that need to be done to allow more Americans to work.

"Most economists agree that in spite of being a very big part of the labor force, immigrants have not come at the cost either of American jobs nor of American wages," Giovanni Peri, an economics professor at the University of California at Davis, told PBS.

Pew Research Center in 2017 described how immigrants were projected to help combat a shrinking workforce. As baby boomers retire, and the US birth rate drops, Pew estimated that without immigration the US workforce would shrink to 165.6 million in 2035 from 173.2 million in 2015. Funding for programs like Social Security that rely on workers would be threatened, and economic growth would most likely shrink or become stagnant.

Immigrants also create jobs by starting businesses. According to Harvard Business Review, immigrants in the US tend to contribute about twice as much to entrepreneurship as native-born citizens do and also tend to create more successful businesses. A study from Harvard Business School found that immigrant-founded businesses performed better in terms of employment growth over three and six years than businesses founded by native citizens.

A 2017 study by the Center for American Entrepreneurship found that more than 40% of companies in the Fortune 500 were founded by first- or second-generation immigrants.

But even on a small-business scale, many local communities benefit from immigrant-owned businesses such as restaurants, hotels, and grocery stores.

"It sends a very powerful negative signal to the rest of the world: 'Don't come to the United States. We don't want you,'" John Dearie, the president of the Center for American Entrepreneurship, a nonpartisan group that supports immigration, previously told the Associated Press on the Trump administration's immigration policy. "That's terribly damaging."

While the proclamation claims that jobs are being lost to immigrants, many companies have said the move would limit them from hiring necessary talent.

Many technology companies like Apple and Google rely on H-1B visas to employ foreign professionals and H-4 visas to allow their spouses to come, so this move could hinder their innovation capabilities — and they responded with frustration to the latest Trump proclamation.

"America's continued success depends on companies having access to the best talent from around the world," said a Google spokesman, Jose Castaneda, in a statement. "Particularly now, we need that talent to help contribute to America's economic recovery."

TechNet's president, Linda Moore, told The Washington Post that the new policy would "slow innovation and undermine the work the technology industry is doing to help our country recover from unprecedented events."