Biden lifts Trump order that temporarily banned certain immigrant visas during the pandemic

Biden lifts Trump order that temporarily banned certain immigrant visas during the pandemic

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President Joe Biden revoked on Wednesday, February 24, an order from the Trump administration that temporarily banned some immigrant visas during the coronavirus pandemic. This allows certain people to be able to migrate legally to the United States.

According to CNN, ex-President Donald Trump had taken this measure in the country’s economy’s best interest during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic.

They explain in an article that “Biden charged in a proclamation Wednesday that Trump’s order ‘does not advance the interests of the United States. To the contrary, it harms the United States, including by preventing certain family members of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents from joining their families here.”

He added that it also harms industries that utilize talent from other countries and individuals who were selected to receive the opportunity to apply for immigrant visas throughout the Fiscal Year 2020 Diversity Visa Lottery.

Biden’s efforts to dismantle Trump’s hard immigration policies

Since Joe Biden began his presidential period in January 2021, he has been taking action in what he calls an “8-year path for citizenship” in the US for an estimated 11 million people currently living in the country without legal status.

The goal is to achieve this through a bill, which is also looking to “undo the damage” caused by Trump’s actions regarding immigration policies, as Biden’s administration explains. 

“Over the course of Trump’s presidency, the administration overhauled the US immigration system, gutting asylum and reducing the number of refugee admissions to historic lows, and severely curtailing legal immigration,” CNN wrote.

When the coronavirus pandemic began, Trump was able to take this measure by arguing that it was necessary to save American jobs during the struggling times.

What had been the effects of Trump’s immigration freeze?

NBC News wrote that as many as 120,000 family-based preference visas were lost because of the pandemic-related freeze in the 2020 budget year.

“According to the American Immigrant Lawyers Association, immigrants could not bring over family members unless they were US citizens applying for visas for their spouses or children under the age of 21”, they explained.

However, employment-based visas were also barred entry unless they were considered beneficial to the national interest or were related to health care.

The total of blocked visas added up to at least 437,000 for family-based visas alone, NBC News reported.

Biden’s actions come only days after thousands of visa lottery winners at risk of having their visas expire won a court order that allowed them to put their visas on hold. They can now enter the country with their visas.

The US makes up to 55,000 visas available every year for immigrants whose nationalities are underrepresented in the population. Nonetheless, they must be used within six months of being obtained.

The President has also proposed legislation that would limit presidential authority to issue future bans against immigrants. He is also calling for the US to increase the number of diversity visas available via the lottery each year from 55,000 to 80,000.

What is next for US immigrants?

When President Joe Biden kicked off his term on January 21, he signed a series of immigration executive actions. The goal? To undo many Trump administration policies and end the national emergency that diverted millions of dollars in constructing the border wall with Mexico.

Part of Biden’s agenda is to introduce comprehensive immigration legislation and maintaining programs that provide relief to immigrants living in the US. However, some of these changes will take some time to occur.

“There’s a long way to go. These are just executive actions,” Biden told reporters then.

Contact an immigration attorney in San Diego, California, today for more information.