Trump hints temporary suspension of immigration to the US to protect American jobs

• As unemployment swells to over 22 million in the United States, President Donald Trump hints at a temporary suspension of immigration to the country in light of the Coronavirus pandemic.
  
• “I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States,” Trump said in a tweet.
  
• However, it is still unknown for how long the suspension would last.
  
• The Federal Reserve anticipates that nearly 47 million jobs are on the line and over 700,000 jobs were lost in March.

As unemployment swells to over 22 million in the United States, President Donald Trump hints at a temporary suspension of immigration to the country so as to ‘protect jobs’ of American citizens.

“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 said in a tweet.


However, it is still unknown for how long the suspension would last and might also impact those who already hold green cards.

Recently, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) relaxed H1-B visa deadlines and delayed other immigration activities, as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The USCIS said that non-immigrants can now apply for an extension of stay or change of status permit. “US Citizenship and Immigration Services continues to accept and process applications and petitions, and many of our forms are available for online filing,” it said.

This comes on the backdrop of the falling oil prices in the US, which turned negative for the first time in history. That may be because of the shrinking demand after countries closed borders, restricting movement and disrupting global supply chains.

47 million jobs on the line

The US Labor Department reported that a lot of Americans are filing claims for unemployment benefits. The claims have now reached 22 million and the Federal Reserve anticipates that nearly 47 million jobs are on the line.

As public life comes to a standstill, hospitality jobs are the worst hit in the US. The Labor department reported that over 700,000 jobs were lost in March — and nearly 60% of them were the professionals employed at the restaurants and bars as hotel chains like Mariott, DoubleTree axed thousands of jobs.

This is a first for the US since the Great Depression. According to a recent national survey, over a third of Americans said that they or someone in their family lost jobs due to the global pandemic — impacting women the most.

Alarmingly, the nationwide tally for Coronavirus infections surged to 792,759 leaving 42,514 dead, as per the data by Worldometer on April 21.

See also:
US oil prices turn negative for the first time in history