Trump tweets he will sign executive order to 'temporarily suspend immigration' into the U.S.
President Trump on Monday night tweeted that he will sign an executive order closing the United States to immigrants.
"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!" he wrote. Trump did not give any additional details, and The Washington Post notes that it is not clear "whether such an order would be possible."
Already, nearly all visa processing by the State Department has been suspended, The Associated Press reports. Critics say Trump is using the coronavirus pandemic to further hardline immigration policies, and this announcement will take attention away from the mounting U.S. COVID-19 death toll, which is now above 42,000.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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