President Biden on Wednesday rescinded a suspension of certain Trump-era immigrant visas that had drastically cut legal immigration to the US during the coronavirus pandemic.
When President Trump issued them in April 2020, he said the restrictions were necessary to keep new immigrants from competing with US workers in the labor market during the economic recession caused by the pandemic.
Mr. Trump used broad executive power to ban the issuance of certain visas to potential immigrants in the hope of moving to the U.S. permanently through petitions filed by their relatives or potential employers in the U.S. The restrictions also froze the U.S. diversity visa lottery, a program that allows immigrants from under-represented countries, many of them in Africa, to come to the US
Spouses and children aged 21 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 than $ 1 million in the U.S.
In his own proclamation on Wednesday, Mr. Biden said the visa ban on Trump-era immigrants did not advance “the interests” of the country.
“On the contrary, it harms the United States, including by preventing certain relatives of US citizens and lawful permanent residents from joining their families here,” Mr. Biden wrote. “It also hurts industries in the United States that use talent from around the world.”
The Biden administration was under increasing pressure from lawyers to revoke Mr. Trump’s immigration limits, which were due to expire on March 31. Groups in favor of drastic cuts to legal immigration backed Mr Trump’s ban, arguing that they were protecting American workers.
Mr Biden’s proclamation on Wednesday did not revoke a new set of pandemic restrictions Mr Trump had put in place to stop certain guest worker programs, including H-1B visas, which are popular in the tech sector.
Those restrictions, which have also ended visas for au pairs, non-agricultural seasonal workers and other temporary workers, will expire at the end of March.