Biden repeals Trump measure banning migrants over ‘occupational hazards’
Washington, Feb 24 (efe-epa).- US President Joe Biden revoked a measure Wednesday by his predecessor Donald Trump, banning the entry of some immigrants deemed a “risk to the labor market,” among them the beneficiaries of the visa lottery and relatives of permanent US residents or citizens.
In a countermeasure released Wednesday by the White House, Biden reversed with immediate effect the decision that Trump announced on Apr. 22 of last year in the first months of the coronavirus pandemic, which hit the US economy hard and slowed the job market.
Trump’s decision, contained in Proclamation 10014, was extended in June 2020 and later on Dec. 31, and ordered the suspension of “the entry of immigrants and non-immigrants who “present a risk during the economic recovery after the coronavirus outbreak.”
But Biden said in his Wednesday proclamation that preventing the arrival of these people “does not promote the interests of the United States.”
“On the contrary,” he said, “it hurts the United States, even by preventing certain relatives of US citizens and legal permanent residents from reuniting with their families here.”
According to Biden’s proclamation, his predecessor’s decision also affects US industries that use labor from around the world and hurts people selected to apply for and receive immigrants visas through the Fiscal Year 2020 Diversity Visa Lottery.
In addition to rescinding the past government’s decision, Biden ordered the state, labor, and Homeland security secretaries to review regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies and any other similar action steps” developed under the revoked proclamation. It asked to issue revised provisions in accordance with the policy issued Wednesday.
Biden, who took office on Jan. 20, has tried in his first weeks in office to reverse a web of regulations adopted by his predecessor to reduce migration to the United States, especially through benefits such as asylum. EFE-EPA
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