Trump curbs immigration amid anger over his handling of virus pandemic

US President Donald Trump has suspended immigration to the United States, claiming the move is aimed at protecting his people and their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic.

The order, signed Wednesday, suspends new immigration for at least 60 days.

It is applied to people who are currently outside of the US seeking entry and do not currently have a valid visa, according to the text.

Under the order, more than 20,000 people per month would be blocked from obtaining a US green card of permanent residence, based on an analysis by the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute

The president said, “In order to protect our great American workers, I have just signed an executive order temporarily suspending immigration into the United States.”

“This will ensure that unemployed Americans of all backgrounds will be first in line for jobs as our economy reopens,” he added.

Trump, who is under fire for his handling of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, claimed that the move will “preserve our healthcare resources for American patients.”

Trump’s decision, which has drawn condemnation from Democrats, is in line with one of his long-term policy goals of curbing immigration.

Democrats and immigrant advocates say Trump’s decision to limit immigration is aimed at distracting people from his response to the current health crisis, which has claimed the lives of at least 47,0,00 people in the country.

The US, the hardest-hit by the coronavirus in the world, has now at least 830,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Deaths from the highly contagious respiratory disease totaled 47,050 in the country on Wednesday, with the day’s count about 1,800 and some states have yet to report.

The fatalities increased by 2,792 on Tuesday alone.

New York state, the epicenter of the US outbreak, reported 474 new deaths on Wednesday.

SS