Joe Biden Rescinds Trump’s Ban on Certain Immigrant Visas

Joe Biden said the Trump-era immigrant visa ban did not help in advancing America’s interests.

US President Joe Biden

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/ The Quint)

United States President Joe Biden on Wednesday, 24 February, revoked a suspension by his predecessor Donald Trump on certain immigrant visas.

In his proclamation on Wednesday, Biden, according to CBS News, wrote that the Trump-era immigrant visa ban did not help in advancing the interests of America.

“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.”   

President Biden, according to CBS News   

Biden further said, "It also harms industries in the United States that utilise talent from around the world."

WHAT WAS TRUMP’S PROCLAMATION ABOUT?

According to CBS News, Trump had used a broad executive power in order to:

• Prohibit the issuance of certain visas for prospective immigrants hoping to move to the US permanently through petitions filed by their family members or prospective American employers.
• Freeze the diversity visa lottery, which allows immigrants from underrepresented countries to come to the US.

Spouses and children – 21 years or younger – of US citizens were not subjected to the immigrant visa limits and neither were some healthcare workers fighting the pandemic and immigrants who agreed to invest more than $1 million in the US, reported CBS news.

MORE DETAILS

Trump had, however, claimed that the restrictions were necessary to keep new immigrants from competing with US workers in the labour market amid the economic recession brought on by the pandemic.

(With inputs from CBS News and Reuters.)