White House lifts Trump order that temporarily banned certain immigrant visas during pandemic

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The move opens legal avenues for migrating to the United States which former President Donald Trump had closed, arguing at the time that it was in the best interests of the economy in the early months of the pandemic.

Biden accused in a proclamation Wednesday that Trump’s order “does not advance the interests of the United States. On the contrary, it harms the United States, including by preventing certain family members of American citizens and permanent residents. legal to join their families here. “

“It also hurts industries in the United States which use talent from all over the world,” the president continued. “And that hurts those who have been selected for the opportunity to apply for, and those who have also received, immigrant visas as part of the fiscal year 2020 diversity visa lottery.”

Diversity visas are awarded by random selection in certain countries in order to promote immigration from countries that otherwise would not send many immigrants to the United States.

The proclamation is just the latest effort by the Biden administration to dismantle the sweeping immigration policies championed by the Trump administration. During Trump’s presidency, the administration overhauled the U.S. immigration system, removing asylum and reducing the number of refugee admissions to historically low levels and dramatically reducing legal immigration.

The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated even more changes to the system that had previously struggled to gain momentum, including Trump’s April executive order, which he said was necessary to save American jobs

“This order will ensure that unemployed Americans from all walks of life will be the first to find jobs as our economy reopens,” he said at the time at the White House.

“Fundamentally, we will also be preserving our healthcare resources for American patients. We need to take care of our patients; we need to take care of our great American workers. And that’s what we do.

Biden had sketched out an ambitious immigration program on the election campaign that would reverse the actions of his predecessor, promising – for example – to introduce comprehensive immigration legislation and to maintain programs that provide aid to immigrants living in the states -United.

He began his tenure by signing off on a series of actions from the Immigration Directorate last month, although further immigration policy changes will take more time and coordination with Congress.

“There is a long way to go. These are just executive actions,” Biden told reporters on his first day in office. “But we’re going to need legislation for a lot of the ones we’re going to do.”

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