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President Trump announced in a tweet late Monday night that he plans to suspend immigration to the United States, a move he said is needed to safeguard American jobs and defend the country from coronavirus pandemic, which he called “the Invisible Enemy.” “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!,” the president wrote, announcing the plan at 10:06 p.m. (Miroff, Dawsey and Armus, 4/21)

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has used health concerns to justify aggressively restricting immigration. Even before the tweet, it had expanded travel restrictions, slowed visa processing and moved to swiftly bar asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants from entering the country, alarming immigration advocates who have said that Mr. Trump and his advisers are using a global pandemic to further hard-line immigration policies. But the president’s late-night announcement on Monday signals his most wide-ranging attempt yet to seal off the country from the rest of the world. (Rogers, Shear and Kanno-Youngs, 4/20)

He offered no details as to what immigration programs might be affected by the order. The White House did not immediately elaborate on Trump’s tweeted announcement. Trump has taken credit for his restrictions on travel to the U.S. from China and hard-hit European countries, arguing it contributed to slowing the spread of the virus in the U.S. But he has yet to extend those restrictions to other nations now experiencing virus outbreaks. (4/21)

Administration officials said the order wouldn’t make substantial changes to current U.S. policy. Even without an executive order, the administration has already all but ceased nearly every form of immigration. Most visa processing has been halted, meaning almost no one can apply for a visa to visit or move to the U.S. Visa interviews and citizenship ceremonies have been postponed and the refugee program paused, The Wall Street Journal has previously reported. Migrants caught crossing the border are now immediately expelled once they are found. (Ballhaus and Hackman, 4/21)

“As our country battles the pandemic, as workers put their lives on the line, the President attacks immigrants & blames others for his own failures”, former Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar said in a tweet. Immigration is largely halted into the United States anyway thanks to border restrictions and flight bans put in place as the virus spread across the globe. But the issue remains an effective rallying cry for Trump’s supporters. (Mason, 4/20)

Trump has faced calls from conservatives to stop allowing foreign workers to enter the U.S. because millions of Americans are out of work after shutdowns to stop the spread of the virus. But for weeks, his administration allowed them to enter. Specifically, the U.S. eased requirements for immigrants to get certain jobs, such as farmworkers, landscapers and crab pickers, aware that certain industries, including those that fill grocery store shelves, could be hurt if they couldn’t hire foreign employees. (Kumar and Choi, 4/20)

A federal judge in California on Monday ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to "identify and track" every person in ICE detention at an elevated risk of complications from COVID-19 and to consider releasing those detainees regardless of their legal status. Risk factors identified by the court include pregnancy, persons over the age of 55 and those with chronic health conditions. (Hagemann, 4/21)