On April 22, 2020, President Trump signed an executive order that will prevent specific groups of individuals from being admitted into the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident (LPR), also known as obtaining a green card. According to the order, the newest restrictions being implemented as a result of the pandemic are to prevent American workers from “threat of competition for scarce jobs from new lawful permanent residents.”
As an LPR, an individual may permanently live and work in the U.S. and if certain eligibility requirements are met may apply to be a U.S. citizen. Individuals may be admitted into the U.S as an LPR if they fall within six broad categories: immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, family sponsored, employment based, refugees and asylees, diversity, and other. Along with border restrictions and an increase in deportations that include unaccompanied children, the order is yet another tool of the administration to restrict immigration under the guise of protecting the American public.
Click here to read an analysis on Trump’s Executive order provided to Texas Impact by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ECLA).
The order will take effect on April 24, 2020 and will expire after 60 days. However, during the initial 50 day window it may be continued or modified if it is recommended by the Secretary of Homeland Security in consultation with the Secretary of State and Secretary of Labor. Additional measures can be added within the first 30 days if it is deemed they will “stimulate the United States economy and ensure the prioritization, hiring, and employment of United States workers.”
While the order states that admitting more lawful permanent residents will lead to an increase in a labor supply that is outpacing the current labor demand, it will reach beyond the scope of its economic justifications. It will effectively prevent all relatives, including children, parents, and spouses of LPRs and any children over the age of 21 of U.S. citizens. This could lead to 26,000 green cards blocked monthly, according to estimates from the Migration Policy Institute. Critics of the order, among them the New York Attorney General, question the motive behind it and whether it is another move by the Administration to vilify the immigrant community.
In response to Trump’s April 21st tweet indicating he would be signing an order, non-profit organization RAICES stated, “The administration has consistently used national crises to push anti-immigration policies, fabricating vague justifications to enact laws that have real, terrible impacts on our immigrant community.”
The ACLU stated that while the order is not the sweeping ban Trump first indicated, it will cause real pain for families and employers across the country. Unfortunately, more measures might be added in the coming weeks. Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf suggested recommendations for including nonimmigrant visas will be presented to Trump.
Trump has authority to temporarily bar immigration from certain groups if he determines it is in the public’s interest. Under Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act grants Trump the authority to implement the new restrictions but also for a “period as he shall deem necessary.” Additional measures don’t appear to be out of the question. During his announcement of the new order Trump stated, “Right now, we have a very powerful immigration ban, but it may be modified, meaning made tougher or made less tough.”
Essential workers, who have been working to “ensure the rest of the country can maintain some semblance of a typical life during this health crisis,” are often immigrants or even undocumented immigrants. In Texas, essential businesses that have stayed open – with limitations – have relied on a workforce that is comprised of many undocumented workers. The Center for Migration Studies reported that in New York alone there are 1.8 million immigrants filling essential roles. In his order Trump stated, “I have determined that the entry, during the next 60 days, of certain aliens as immigrants would be detrimental to the interests of the United States.” But the President is wrong, immigrants are absolutely in the interest of the U.S., and have been here supporting us through this health crisis.