President Biden on Wednesday recalled a suspension of certain immigrant visas in the Trump era that dramatically cut legal immigration to the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic.
When Trump introduced it in April 2020, he said the restrictions were necessary to prevent new immigrants from competing with U.S. workers in the labor market during the economic recession caused by the pandemic.
Mr. Trump has used a wide executive power to ban the issuance of certain visas to prospective immigrants in hopes of moving permanently to the U.S. through petitions filed by their family members or prospective employers in the U.S. The restrictions also freeze the diversity visa lottery, a program that allows immigrants from under-represented countries, many of whom in Africa, to come to the US
Spouses and children 21 or younger of U.S. citizens were not subject to the immigration visa limits, which also exempted health workers fighting the pandemic, as well as wealthy immigrants who agreed to invest more than $ 1 million in the United States.
In his own proclamation on Wednesday, Mr. Biden said the Trump-era banned immigrant visa does not advance the interests of the country.
“On the contrary, it harms the United States, among other things by preventing certain family members of U.S. citizens and legal residents from joining their families here,” he said. Biden written. “It also harms industries in the United States that utilize talent from around the world.”
The government of Biden has come under increasing pressure from advocates to curb the immigration restrictions of Mr. To recall Trump, who would expire on March 31. Groups calling for drastic cuts to legal immigration have supported Trump’s ban, arguing that they are protecting American workers.
Mr. Biden’s proclamation on Wednesday did not repeal another set of pandemic restrictions imposed by Trump to stop certain gas worker programs, including H-1B visas, which are popular in the technology sector.
The restrictions, which also stopped the visas for au pairs, seasonal workers and other temporary workers outside agriculture, will expire at the end of March.