United States
Immigration Ban Issued Using Pretext of Pandemic
On April 22, President Trump issued an executive
order
entitled, "Proclamation Suspending Entry of
Immigrants Who
Present Risk to the U.S. Labour Market During the
Economic
Recovery Following the COVID-19 Outbreak." The
order went into
effect at 11:59 pm April 23. It is in force for 60
days, and may
be renewed.
In the proclamation, the Trump administration
claims that
because of the economic disruption caused by the
pandemic, "we
must be mindful of the impact of foreign workers
on the United
States labour market, particularly in an
environment of high
domestic unemployment and depressed demand for
labour."
The Trump administration goes on to posture as a
defender of
minorities and those with disabilities in
justifying the
immigration ban, saying "Excess labour supply
affects all workers
and potential workers, but it is particularly
harmful to workers
at the margin between employment and unemployment,
who are
typically 'last in' during an economic expansion
and 'first out'
during an economic contraction. In recent years,
these workers
have been disproportionately represented by
historically
disadvantaged groups, including African Americans
and other
minorities, those without a college degree, and
the disabled."
The proclamation carries on according to this
self-serving
neo-liberal method of justifying reaction by
citing high
ideals.[1]
According to the measures in the bill, U.S.
citizens seeking
immigrant visas for a parent, adult child or
sibling can no
longer do so. It also requires a 30-day review of
temporary
visas. News agencies point out that the
proclamation contains
nearly identical provisions to an immigration bill
rejected by
the U.S. Senate in February 2018. Regarding the
Trump
administration's claims that the proclamation is
to prevent
immigrants from taking jobs away from U.S.
citizens, Forbes
magazine points out that "The U.S. unemployment
rate in February 2018 was only 4.1 per cent when
the
administration attempted to stop immigrants from
entering the
United States in the same categories as were
included in the
April 22, 2020, presidential proclamation." Thus,
the Trump
administration has effectively used the pandemic
to change
immigration law without passing a bill through
Congress.
On April 25, a coalition of civil rights and
legal
organizations filed a motion asking the U.S.
District Court for
the District of Oregon "to halt implementation of
this ban to the
extent that it prevents immigrant visa applicants
abroad from
accessing emergency and urgent consular processing
services."
The coalition debunks the justifications given
for
the ban,
saying, "The presidential proclamation claims
that, with limited
exceptions, the continued entry of immigrants
presents a risk to
the U.S. labour market in the wake of the COVID-19
outbreak. But
the reality is that immigrants are the backbone of
the U.S.
economy, are already on the front lines of
pandemic response, and
will also be key to the economic recovery. Experts
anticipate the
family immigration ban would likely reduce
population growth and
make economic recovery more challenging after the
COVID-19
economic downturn. Decades of economic research
tell us that
having more immigrants actually boosts consumer
demand, creates
jobs, and provides an increasingly precious source
of national
economic strength.
"By denying family reunification visas, this
immigration
ban will deny entry to thousands of grandparents
coming to
provide child care for essential workers who are
packing and
delivering our food, treating patients in our
hospitals and
researching treatments and vaccines for the virus.
It could also
change the visa classification for a teenager
nearing their
twenty-first birthday who will age out of their
eligibility for a
visa while the ban is in effect -- setting them
back years, or
even decades, in the immigration process."
On the occasion of May Day, it is important to
recall that the
U.S. working class has revived the tradition of
May Day as an
occasion to militantly affirm workers' rights and
their essential
role as the producers of society's wealth, and
that this was done
precisely with immigrants and undocumented workers
leading the
way as an integral part of the working class. The
refusal of the
U.S. working class to be split on a racist basis
or incited to
racism has been reaffirmed throughout the Trump
presidency by the
broad opposition to travel bans, the
militarization of the border
with Mexico, and the raids and inhuman detentions
carried out by
Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The U.S. working class will surely not be fooled
by this
attempt to incite them on a racist basis, or
attempts to divide
workers on a racist basis. Nor will working people
be diverted
from defending their rights and the rights of
all, or from
holding the Trump administration and others to
account for their
crimes against working people during the pandemic.
Targeting Frontline Workers
Fighting the
Pandemic
The callous opportunism of the
Trump administration
on matters of immigration during the pandemic is
further revealed
in its attempt to repeal the immigration policy
known as Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) that
provides limited
protections for those who came to the U.S.
without documentation
during childhood. Since coming to power, the
Trump administration
has sought to eliminate DACA, but this has been
challenged by
several states and is currently blocked by court
order. Now, in
the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Supreme
Court is expected
to rule on the matter as early as May 4.
DACA was created in June 2012 as an executive
branch
memorandum. Those who successfully apply for DACA
can defer
deportation for a renewable two-year period, with
eligibility for
work permits during that time. It does not provide
a path to
citizenship. Currently about 700,000 people have
been granted
DACA status.
Workers who are DACA recipients are integral to
the U.S.
economy and the security and well-being of its
people, especially
during the pandemic.
An April 6 study by the think tank, the Center
for
American
Progress, states that across the U.S., "202,500
DACA recipients
are working to protect the health and safety of
Americans as the
country confronts COVID-19. They are ensuring that
children are
still being educated; food is still being grown,
packaged,
cooked, shipped, and put on the shelves of grocery
stores;
patients are being cared for; and much more. DACA
recipients, for
example, are doctors and medical students, putting
their own
health and safety on the line. They are also
teachers, striving
to provide a sense of well-being and continuity to
America's
youngest generation remotely. Such roles are
crucial at a time
when the United States is facing a critical
shortage of workers
in both professions."
The study informs that an estimated 29,000 DACA
recipients are
frontline health care workers, and that states
with the most DACA
recipients are also home to the largest number of
DACA recipients
working in health care occupations, noting that
California has
8,600; Texas, 4,300; New York, 1,700; Illinois,
1,400; Florida,
1,100; Arizona, 1,000; and Washington, 1,000. Yet
another 12,700
work in the health care industry doing
housekeeping, food
services, management and administration, in both
hospitals and
nursing homes.
In the education sector, the study says that
"14,900 DACA
recipients are among the hundreds of thousands of
teachers who
have pivoted from the physical to the digital
classroom,
including 4,300 in California, 2,800 in Texas, and
1,000 in
Illinois."
As concerns food, the study informs that "From
farms to
grocery stores and distribution centres to
restaurants, more than
a quarter of employed DACA recipients -- 142,100
-- work in
food-related occupations or industries across the
country.
Despite the fact that this sector includes so many
different
occupations, all food-related workers are
undoubtedly impacted by
COVID-19 in one way or another.
"On the production end, 12,800 DACA recipients
work in the
farming and agriculture industry -- with the vast
majority as
agricultural labourers -- and 11,600 DACA
recipients work in the
food manufacturing industry, processing these
agricultural
products into a food product that can be sold.
"To distribute food from production to its end
users, 4,700
DACA recipients work in food-related wholesale
trade, and 8,800
DACA recipients work in food warehousing,
transportation, and
delivery.
"Another group of essential food-related workers
are those
keeping grocery stores open and operable. That
includes 14,900
DACA recipients, employed in roles such as
cashiers (6,000);
stockers and labourers (2,900); and supervisors
(1,200).
"The majority of DACAmented workers in this
industry are
working in restaurants or food service
establishments (82,200).
This includes 23,700 servers; 20,800 cooks and
prep workers; and
10,800 cashiers. While carryout restaurants and
quick service
food operations are deemed essential by
[Department of Homeland
Security], dining-in remains
widely shuttered, and the restaurant industry has
seen remarkable
closures and layoffs.
"And these statistics likely don't capture
another
critical
group: DACAmented warehouse workers, now playing a
larger role in
moving food directly to consumers across the
country, along with
gig economy delivery drivers."
DACA recipients also face uncertainty regarding
renewal of
their DACA status or work permits, as the U.S.
Citizenship and
Immigration Service (USCIS) has closed its field
offices until
June 3 due to the pandemic. DACA recipients and
rights
organizations are demanding that the government
provide automatic
renewal while the USCIS field offices remain
closed.
DACA recipients and various organizations are
urging the
Supreme Court to delay any decision until after
the COVID-19
pandemic has been overcome.
Note
1. To
read the
full proclamation, click
here.
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 15 - May 2, 2020
Article Link:
United States: Immigration Ban Issued Using Pretext of Pandemic
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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