President Trump’s Proposal to Suspend all Immigration to the U.S.

President Donald Trump tweeted last night (Monday, April 20) at around 7 PM PST / 10 PM EST that he will sign an executive order temporarily suspending all immigration to the U.S. in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The text of his tweet is below:

"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 has not offered any further details on the upcoming order, although the media reported this morning that the proposed executive order is for a temporary, 120-day suspension of employment-based visas into the United States.  

Based on what we know so far, the individuals who could be impacted by this executive order are foreign nationals outside the United States who have employment-based petitions pending with USCIS or who have approved petitions and are waiting for a visa appointment once the US Consulates reopen, such as individuals seeking admission to the US in H-1B or L-1 visas.  Canadians planning to apply for TN visas at the border also may be affected.  Again, we have nothing more than a tweet and media reporting from this morning to work with right now.  

For those foreign nationals already in the United States, we can expect further processing delays, but a suspension on processing petitions or applications is highly unlikely.   Increased scrutiny and processing delays happen each time the US has faced a devastating economic downturn, so this is not surprising.  We are watching the developments very closely and will keep you updated as soon as we have more visibility on what President Trump has in mind. 

This alert is for informational purposes only.  If you have any further questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me.  There may be a slight delay in my response because of the high volume of emails and calls, but I will get back to you.