Because of the ongoing corona crisis in the USA, the elected President Donald Trump has extended restrictions on immigration. The requirements are strict until March.
The incumbent US President Donald Trump has extended the suspension of the issuing of certain work visas and green cards until the end of March, with reference to the ongoing corona pandemic. The effects of the pandemic on the US labor market and the health of the American people remain a matter of concern, according to a proclamation published by the president on Thursday.
For this reason, the measures imposed in April and June, which significantly limit legal immigration to the USA, should remain in place for the time being. The labor, homeland security and foreign ministries should regularly check whether changes to the measures are necessary.
Exceptions apply for spouses and children
The orders apply only to foreigners currently outside the United States who do not yet have an entry permit. Those who already have a permanent residence permit are not affected; there are also exceptions for spouses and children of US citizens.
The world’s largest economy is badly hit because of the pandemic. The number of recipients of unemployment benefits is now 19.6 million, a year ago it was only around 1.8 million. The many new infections every day give little hope of a quick recovery.
In the proclamation, the US government drew a much more pessimistic picture than Trump in a video message published on Thursday to justify the measures. In it he said, among other things, that the country had coped with the corona pandemic economically “dramatically better” than experts had predicted.
In the USA, according to Reuters calculations, at least 230,175 people were newly infected with the corona virus on Thursday. The total number of cases of infection rose to 19.91 million. The death toll rose by at least 3,625 to 345,914.