Trump Says He will Suspend Immigration into US over COVID-19 Concerns

Dimapur, April 21, 2020:

Amid skyrocketing number of cases of the new coronavirus or COVID-19, United States President Donald J Trump has said that he will sign an executive order banning immigration into the country over COVID-19 concerns.

ALSO READ: Breaking: 1 More in Meghalaya Tests ‘Positive’ for COVID-19, Total Rises to 12

Taking to Twitter, Trump wrote, "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!"

This is Trump's latest travel restriction in an effort to contain the outbreak. Trump had earlier imposed travel restrictions on China, Europe, Canada and Mexico to curb the virus’s spread. The US State Department last month temporarily suspended routine visa services at embassies and consulates.

Trump has earlier opined that the pandemic might be a wake-up call to manufacture some goods on US soil and had also said that it might be an opportunity to further restrict travel into the US.

ALSO READ: Himanta Biswa Sarma: Salary of Assam Govt Officials in June will be “Difficult”

Meanwhile, while the coronavirus continues its deadly sweep across the US, effots are underway to return a certain quota of the the workforce back to their respective workplaces while the economy continues taking hits due to the virus.

It is pertinent to mention here that Trump is known for his "anti-immigration" stance. From attempting to restrict travel from certain majority-Muslim nations, pushing to erect a border wall along the boundary with Mexico, striking deals to almost immediately deport asylum seekers from certain countries and moving to slash the number of refugees that the U.S. accepts, Trump has been known for pushing legislative measures to curb the rate of immigration to the US since he was elected President.

Support Inside Northeast (InsideNE), an independent media platform that focuses on Citizen-centric stories from Northeast India that are surprising, inspiring, cinematic and emotionally relevant.