President Biden on Wednesday revoked a Trump-era suspension of certain immigrant visas that had drastically reduced legal immigration to the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic.
When enacted in April 2020, President Trump said the restrictions were necessary to prevent new immigrants from competing with U.S. workers in the labor market during the economic recession caused by the pandemic.
Trump used broad executive power to ban the issuance of certain visas to potential immigrants hoping to move permanently to the U.S. through petitions filed by members of his family or potential employers in the United States. The restrictions also froze the diversity visa lottery, a program that allows immigrants from under-represented countries, many of them in Africa, to arrive in the U.S.
Spouses and children 21 years of age or younger of U.S. citizens were not subject to immigrant visa limits, which also exempted some health workers fighting the pandemic, as well as wealthy immigrants who agreed to invest more. of one million dollars in the US.
In his own proclamation Wednesday, Mr. Biden said the Trump-era immigrant visa ban did not “advance the interests” of the country.
“On the contrary, it harms the United States, even preventing some family members of U.S. citizens and permanent legal residents from joining their families here,” Biden wrote. “It also hurts U.S. industries that use talent from around the world.”
The Biden administration had been under intense pressure from advocates to rescind Trump’s immigration limits, which were due to expire on March 31st. Groups advocating for drastic cuts to legal immigration supported Trump’s bans, arguing that they protected U.S. workers.
Biden’s proclamation on Wednesday did not revoke another set of pandemic-era restrictions that Trump instituted to stop certain guest worker programs, including H-1B visas, which are popular in the tech sector.
These restrictions, which have also stopped visas for au pair, temporary non-agricultural workers and other temporary workers, will have to expire by the end of March.