Last evening, President Trump announced his intent to issue an executive order suspending all immigration to the United States. The announcement was made via Twitter, and offered few details. President Trump cited “the Invisible Enemy” – presumably, the coronavirus – and the need to protect jobs for U.S. citizens. While the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the president’s broad authority to restrict admission of foreign nationals to the U.S. on national security and public health related grounds, as evidenced by recent travel bans and restrictions, his authority to suspend immigration due to economic considerations is less clear.
The Trump Administration has long sought to reduce immigration to the U.S., and to date, has primarily focused on asylum seekers, refugees, family-based immigrants, and the undocumented. This latest announcement takes aim at employment-based immigration. It is not yet not known whether the order will seek to suspend the admission of foreign nationals for a period of time, or whether individuals already in the U.S. with valid work visas will also be impacted. Insofar as the U.S. immigration scheme derives from a statute enacted by Congress, attempts by the Executive branch to vacate the statute should be met with legal challenges.
Gibney is closely monitoring this development and will provide updates as additional information becomes available.
