Late Monday night President Trump announced he will be signing an executive order temporarily barring immigration to the United States as the fight against Wuhan coronavirus continues.
In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2020
Outrage ensued almost immediately, with the media and Democrats on Capitol Hill leading the way.
How can he justify stopping all immigration globally because of the pandemic at the same time he’s suggesting it’s safe for states to start going back to work by May 1st or sooner? https://t.co/ms44oc8lEP
— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) April 21, 2020
Trump announced he plans to halt immigration to US with an executive order. Officials said an order to stop issuing green cards & work visas could come within days. The legal basis is unclear. He failed on the virus — this is an effort to rally his base. https://t.co/5p9RGMhs1b
— Edward Wong (@ewong) April 21, 2020
We all know the playbook by now. Whenever Trump wants to change the subject, he says something racist/draconian about immigration. He has failed the response to coronavirus & has no plan for testing/tracing. Americans know it, his poll numbers are falling—so voila, same old song. https://t.co/epPCAmuFJp
— Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) April 21, 2020
And there it is: Trump is using the coronavirus to push his xenophobic, racist agenda. https://t.co/LpIB1ut4zz
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) April 21, 2020
But knee-jerk critics of the President's actions are missing the point, again. Not only do we want to prevent potential carriers of the disease from coming into the country, we want to protect American workers.
By the time this is over, more than 30 million Americans could be unemployed. Depending on how fast the economy comes back, millions of people will languish in unemployment for quite sometime. Therefore, jobs that do open up as governments relax social distancing policies should be available to Americans first.
“President Trump is committed to protecting the health and economic well-being of American citizens as we face unprecedented times. As President Trump has said, ‘Decades of record immigration have produced lower wages and higher unemployment for our citizens, especially for African-American and Latino workers.’ At a time when Americans are looking to get back to work, action is necessary,” White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, released in a statement Tuesday.
This is a simple concept to comprehend, as long as you leave politics out of it.
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