Biden Reverses Trump Visa Ban On Legal Immigration

“It harms the United States,” Biden said of the
ban.

President Joe Biden on Wednesday revoked a Trump-era ban on
legal immigration for family members of U.S. citizens and
residents, as well as diversity visa lottery recipients.

In a statement, Biden said former President Donald Trump’s order
blocking green card applicants and temporary foreign workers “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,”
Biden’s statement said. “It also harms industries in the United
States that utilize talent from around the world.

And it harms individuals who were selected to receive the
opportunity to apply for, and those who have likewise received,
immigrant visas through the Fiscal Year 2020 Diversity Visa
Lottery.”

The Trump administration had justified the ban as necessary to
protect American workers and the U.S. labor market given the
coronavirus pandemic.

Business groups, including the technology industry, and
immigrant advocates have expressed concern in recent weeks that the
Biden administration was not speaking up on any plans to remove the
ban, which was put in place in April and then expanded in June.

This proclamation lifts parts of the Trump-era ban, but the ban
on work visas remains, though that is set to expire at the end of
March. Programs like the diversity visa lottery offers 50,000 visas
to people from nations with a low rate of immigration to the
U.S.

In a December proclamation, Trump claimed: “The admission of
workers within several nonimmigrant visa categories also posed a
risk of displacing and disadvantaging United States workers during
the economic recovery following the COVID-19 outbreak.”

“It harms the United States,” Biden said of the
ban.

President Joe Biden on Wednesday revoked a Trump-era ban on
legal immigration for family members of U.S. citizens and
residents, as well as diversity visa lottery recipients.

In a statement, Biden said former President Donald Trump’s order
blocking green card applicants and temporary foreign workers “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,”
Biden’s statement said. “It also harms industries in the United
States that utilize talent from around the world.

And it harms individuals who were selected to receive the
opportunity to apply for, and those who have likewise received,
immigrant visas through the Fiscal Year 2020 Diversity Visa
Lottery.”

The Trump administration had justified the ban as necessary to
protect American workers and the U.S. labor market given the
coronavirus pandemic.

Business groups, including the technology industry, and
immigrant advocates have expressed concern in recent weeks that the
Biden administration was not speaking up on any plans to remove the
ban, which was put in place in April and then expanded in June.

This proclamation lifts parts of the Trump-era ban, but the ban
on work visas remains, though that is set to expire at the end of
March. Programs like the diversity visa lottery offers 50,000 visas
to people from nations with a low rate of immigration to the
U.S.

In a December proclamation, Trump claimed: “The admission of
workers within several nonimmigrant visa categories also posed a
risk of displacing and disadvantaging United States workers during
the economic recovery following the COVID-19 outbreak.”