Washington, D.C. (June 22, 2020) – The Center for Immigration Studies will a host a 4:30pm EDT livestream panel today discussing the proclamation suspending entry of immigrants who present risk to the U.S. labor market during the economic recovery following the COVID-19 outbreak, which President Trump will sign later today. The new proclamation apparently extends the April proclamation until the end of the year and goes much further by suspending entry of those applying for non-immigrant status (i.e. temporary) under the H-1B, H4, L, and H2-B, J visas with limited exceptions.  

"This is a bold move by the Trump administration to protect American jobs," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies. "Not all the items on our checklist of needed actions are included in today's announcement, but the corporate lobbyists who were desperately fighting for exceptions to protect their clients' access to cheap foreign labor have largely been rebuffed. With tens of millions of Americans out of work, we look forward to continued progress toward the president's Hire American goals."

“I estimate that potentially as many as 3/4 of a million jobs will be opened up to U.S. workers by the suspension of temporary work visas and work permits and by the proposed regulatory changes. This is potentially very big,” said Jessica Vaughan, the Center’s director of policy studies.  “Extending these reforms until the end of the year makes a huge difference, in part because employers can’t just hold their breath until it’s over.”  

When: Thursday, June 18, at 2:00 pm EDT
Stream: Scheduled streams will be live on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter 
Questions: Questions can be sent prior or during the event to [email protected] or on twitter to @CIS_org.
 
The restrictions on immigration come on the same day that the Federal Register published a rule by the Department of Homeland Security intended to tighten the requirements for asylum applicants to receive employment authorization documents (EADs), Removal of 30-Day Processing Provision for Asylum Applicant-Related Form I-765 Employment Authorization Applications. The 30 day time-frame was established 20 years ago and no longer allows sufficient time to conduct the vetting the agency is now able to perform and needed to perform today.