Trump administration to extend, expand pandemic-related immigration restrictions

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)

The White House is citing the coronavirus pandemic as the driving force behind President Trump's executive order issued Monday that extends previously implemented immigration restrictions through the end of the year while also expanding the limits to new visa categories.

The Trump administration claims the restrictions — which apply to several different types of work and cultural exchange visas, including those in the technology sector — are meant to protect U.S. workers who lost jobs because of the coronavirus; the White House estimates the executive order will prevent foreign workers from filling 525,000 jobs.

But, per The Washington Post, the president's critics believe the pandemic is masking the Trump administration's actual motivation, which is to satisfy the administration's longstanding goal of curtailing immigration, a key aspect of the 2016 presidential campaign.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The restrictions do continue to provide exceptions. Agricultural laborers, some health care workers, university professors, and child-care providers will still be able to acquire their visas. Read more at The Washington Post.

Explore More
Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.