Trump pushes ahead on immigration ban as experts doubt its impact

President Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday he had signed an executive order “temporarily suspending immigration into the United States” – but experts say the order will merely delay the issuance of green cards for a minority of immigrants.

Mr Trump said his move, announced in a Monday tweet, was necessary to help Americans get back to work in an economy ravaged by the coronavirus.

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

But the order includes a long list of exemptions, including for those who are currently in the country and those seeking entry to work as physicians and nurses, as well as the spouses and minor children of American citizens.

The 60-day pause also leaves untouched the hundreds of thousands of temporary work visas the country issues each year.

That left partisans on both sides of the immigration battle suggesting the order was driven more by politics than policy during an election year.

Mr Trump ran in 2016 on promising to crack down on both illegal and legal immigration, making the case — disputed by many — that foreign workers compete with Americans for jobs and drive down wages because they are willing to accept lower pay.

While many of Trump’s efforts to dramatically upend the nation’s immigration system, from travel bans to asylum restrictions, had been stymied by Congress and the courts, the pandemic has allowed him to move forward on certain changes.

Like other world leaders, Mr Trump has restricted travel from much of the globe, including China and large parts of Europe. The borders with Mexico and Canada have been closed to all but “essential” travel.

With consulates closed, almost all visa processing by the State Department has been suspended for weeks. And Mr Trump has used the virus to effectively end asylum at US borders, turning away migrants, including children, by invoking a rarely used 1944 law aimed at preventing the spread of communicable diseases.

The green card measure will limit the ability of current green card holders to sponsor their extended families — a practice Mr Trump has derided as “chain immigration” and tried to restrict.

The final version was far less drastic than advocates on both sides of the issue had expected after Mr Trump posted a tweet late on Monday that sent businesses, would-be immigrants and administration officials scrambling.

“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 wrote.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Centre for Immigration Studies, said before the order was released that it would “have some very modest policy effect,” but added “it’s actually not even that big a deal”.

He said “the primary function was political, to respond to people’s concern that at this point, with maybe 15% of the labour force out of work, they had to do something.”

Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, a liberal immigration reform group, agreed in part.

“This announcement is more about grabbing a headline than changing immigration policy,” he said.

“To me, it smacks of an electoral strategy, not a policy change, and it smacks of desperation and panic.”