After the Pandemic, the U.S. Will Need More Immigrants
The administration’s executive order is a small step in the wrong direction.
But not to everyone.
Photographer: Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/Bloomberg
President Donald Trump recently announced an executive order “temporarily suspending immigration to the United States.” It turns out that the new restrictions are narrower than this might suggest — which is a good thing. Immigration policy needs short-term adjustments and cries out for long-term reform, but broad or indefinite clampdowns certainly aren’t the answer.
The president was describing the order in terms most likely to appeal to anti-immigration hardliners. In fact, temporary farmworkers, medical professionals and workers in the technology sector will continue to be allowed in. The main provision is a 60-day ban on new green cards for foreign nationals living outside the U.S.