Does Trump have the power to suspend immigration? The executive order states that the administration will review all temporary visa programmes – including guest worker programmes – to determine if additional steps should be taken to protect US workers.Ī senior administration official told Reuters news agency this week that the White House was considering a separate action that could deal with skilled workers who enter the country on H-1B visas and others affected by US immigration policy. What happens to foreign temporary workers? Future extensions could potentially be longer than 60 days, Trump said this week. After that, Trump will review US economic conditions and decide whether it should be extended. The suspension will begin just before midnight on Thursday and last 60 days. The measure contains several other exemptions, including a general exemption for “any alien whose entry would be in the national interest”. The order makes an exception for spouses of US citizens and their unmarried children under the age of 21. The measure also excludes immigrants applying for the EB-5 visa programme, which allows foreigners willing to invest large sums of money in US projects that create or preserve jobs to obtain permanent residence.

White House Senior Policy Advisor Stephen Miller during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, US Who is exempt? How long will it last?ĭoctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals will be exempt, as will other prospective immigrants coming to the country to perform “essential” work to combat the new coronavirus, as determined by federal agencies. The immediate impact of the order was not clear since most US consulates around the world have already shuttered most immigration processing services. Most family-based green cards are granted to people outside the country, however. The majority of employment-based green cards are granted to people inside the United States, and thereby not covered by the ban. It also does not affect workers such as farm labourers entering the United States on temporary visas or skilled workers on H-1B visas.įoreigners already in the US and seeking to adjust their status will not be blocked by the latest measure. The order does not affect people coming to the US on non-immigrant visas, including tourists and business travellers. Asylum seekers wearing masks enter a door while attending a mandatory immigration court hearing on Monday.

White house photos daylife