President Trump extended a COVID-related Visa Ban through 31st March 2021

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On Thursday, US President Donald Trump extended pandemic-related bans on issuing green cards and work visas to large groups of applicants outside the United States through 31^st March 2021. The US Federal judges limited the impact but the short-lived bans significantly tightened legal immigration. It was an objective that had evaded Trump before the coronavirus struck. They had been set to expire Thursday. It was an extension consistent with Trump’s hard-line stance on immigration and passes on the decision over when and whether to lift the bans to President-elect Joe Biden. Point to be noted that President Trump imposed a ban in April on green cards issued abroad that largely targets family members of people already in the United States.

Biden’s immigration platform doesn’t specifically address the issue. The administration went much further in June by adding H-1B visas after a surprisingly chilly reception from immigration hawks. There are widely used by American and Indian technology company workers and their families; H-2B visas for nonagricultural seasonal workers; J-1 visas for cultural exchanges; and L-1 visas for managers and other key employees of multinational corporations. It is noteworthy that Trump said the measures would protect American jobs in a pandemic-wracked economy, while business groups said they would hamper a recovery. By contrast, the administration’s edict to immediately expel asylum-seekers and others who cross the border illegally from Mexico was justified on grounds of containing the coronavirus.

A temporary ban on non-essential travel across the Mexican and Canadian borders was also done for public health. The US District Judge Jeffrey White of San Francisco ruled in October that the work-visa ban could not be enforced against groups that sued and their members, who represent much of the US economy. It is important that the US Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Retail Federation, and technology industry group TechNet and Intrax Inc., manages cultural exchange programs. US District Judge Edward Chen of Oakland was appointed by President Barack Obama. The Judge prevented the green-card ban from taking effect against families of 181 US citizens and legal residents who filed lawsuits.