Trump’s plan to limit green cards: five things you need to know

By now you may have heard that President Trump came out on Twitter saying that:

“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!”

This has caused a lot of panic for those people who are trying to get green cards and visas in the US. However as of yet, nothing has changed from yesterday except that Trump has backed down on that statement and is now only talking about temporarily limiting new Green Cards, while stopping short on temporary visas for work, study or tourism.

While the Immigration and Nationality Act does empower the president with a broad spectrum of authority on immigration the following is also true:

1) As is typical when these executive orders are issued, litigation will follow.

2) Frequently, federal courts operate as checks and balances. In other words, if the federal courts — all the way up to the US Supreme Court — feel that an executive order overreaches, they will stop part or all of it from being implemented.
3) The word temporary is very important here. Already the US embassies are closed down globally for day-to-day operations during the pandemic.
4) Also travel is being halted and or restricted. In some ways the announcement of this executive order sounds like a restatement of that which we know already.

The bottom line?

As I have said in previous pandemic-related blog posts, we are still processing green cards and visas for clients, and receiving them in the mail. It’s a great time to prepare paperwork, and submit visas before the economy restarts and a backlog from shelved cases happens.

In the big picture immigration is not only vital to our country, the thought of a shutdown on immigration has ramifications that are obvious.
Immigration is necessary during the pandemic & otherwise. Healthcare & Tech are keeping the US going right now. Both services are populated significantly by immigrants.
I’ve been representing immigrants for nearly a quarter century. We need them Now more than ever.
Immigrants are a part of the long-term and historical fabric of the US, and will continue to be in the future.

Written by: Harlan York

Immigration Attorney Harlan York is Former Chair, Immigration Section, NJ State Bar Association and Former Co-Chair, NY State Bar Association CFLS Immigration Committee. Mr. York appeared on National Television on CBS This Morning with Charlie Rose and Primer Impacto on Univision, as well as Telemundo, NBC, and PBS. He was honored as First Ever Immigration Lawyer of The Year in NJ by Best Lawyers.

Do you have a question about Immigration in General?

Call us anytime at 973.642.1111 or email us using the form below.