White House Extends Ban on Work Visas and Green Cards

The White House has extended the ban on some migrants coming to the U.S. through work-based visas and green cards, this time through the end of March 2021.

For some context, the Trump Administration issued restrictions in April and in June for the purpose of protecting American workers from foreign competition as shutdowns swept the U.S. job market and the nation faced a dire economic outlook due to Covid-19. You can read Roy’s blog from April reacting to and breaking down the original restrictions issued by the White House, here.

“The ban, which had been set to expire Thursday, applies to immigrants coming to the U.S. on H-1B and several other employment-based visas, along with people coming on green cards to work or reunite with family,” explains the Wall Street Journal. Click here, to read more about the complete restrictions updated and expanded by the White House in June.

“It generally applies to green cards issued after April and some work-based visas issued after June, though there are exceptions, such as for the spouses of U.S. citizens,” they continued.

In October, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents a broad cross-section of the nation’s big business interests, particularly of those in Silicon Valley, won a partial injunction on the visa ban in court. It isn’t known how the ban extension will affect the court’s order. You can read about that court case here.

Presumptive President-elect, Joe Biden’s transition team has refused to answer questions about how he would handle the ban.

A conundrum arises as the Biden team has promised to reverse the Trump Administration’s progress when it comes to immigration, but also take a strong stand against the coronavirus with some of his team reportedly expressing reluctance to “wind down other Trump policies quickly out of fear that doing so might not make it safe,” reports the WSJ.

For the complete story, please visit the Wall Street Journal.