Trump Slammed For ‘Xenonophic Scapegoating’ After Proposing U.S. Immigration Ban

TOPLINE

President Donald Trump tweeted on Monday that he will pass an executive order to suspend temporarily immigration to the United States, claiming that he is seeking to protect jobs in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, but Democrats criticized it as a “dumb move” and pointed to testing as a safe way to reopen the economy.

KEY FACTS

Key background: President Donald Trump ran on a campaign pledge to tackle illegal immigration to the United States. In office, he moved to restrict legal and illegal immigration with travel bans for citizens of a number of Muslim-majority nations, cutting the numbers of refugees the U.S. accepts, and pushing ahead with plans to build a wall on the southern border.

Many countries have taken measures to limit travel because of the coronavirus but Trump’s move to restrict travel from Canada, Mexico, China and European Union, and now a proposed ban on all legal immigration are among some of the most extreme.

Big number: The U.S. issued 462,000 immigrant visas at its missions across the world in 2019.

What we don’t know: How long the suspension will last, and what will happen to applications currently being processed. The White House has not given further details about Trump’s plan. Thomas Homan, Trump’s former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told Reuters: “It’s really not about immigration. It’s about the pandemic and keeping our country safer while protecting opportunities for unemployed Americans.”

Chief critics: Democrats called out Trump for targeting immigrants, and said it was his leadership and lack of foresight that led to the worst coronavirus outbreak seen anywhere in the world.

Amy Klobuchar, former presidential candidate, tweeted in response: “As our country battles the pandemic, as workers put their lives on the line, the President attacks immigrants & blames others for his own failures. The order I’d like to see tonight? Testing. Instead he twists “the buck stops here” into this: “the buck stops anywhere but here.”

Democratic congressman Eric Swalwell tweeted: “We’re in this crisis- 42k-plus deaths [and] a faltering economy as other nations did better—due to his failures of foresight & leadership, [and] his ongoing failure to take responsibility & accept reality.”

 San Antonio mayor Julian Castro called it a “dumb move”.

 Further reading: Just How Bad Is It? Here’s The Economic Damage The Coronavirus Will Cause, According To Major Banks (Forbes)

Report: States Are Rapidly Draining Their Unemployment Funds (Forbes)

Coronavirus Layoffs: ViacomCBS, Cantor Fitzgerald Latest To Shed Jobs Amid Pandemic (Forbes)

Unemployment Claims Top 20 Million As A Further 5 Million People Apply For Benefits (Forbes) 

Full coverage and live updates on the Coronavirus