President Donald Trump late Monday evening said he will be signing an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration to the United States.
"In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!" Trump said in a tweet.
What It Means
The "invisible enemy" is referring to COVID-19, the novel coronavirus that has infected 786,968 and killed 42,308 people in the U.S. alone, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada are currently closed for all non-essential travel. Over the past two months, Trump imposed travel bans to visitors who had been in China, Iran, the United Kingdom, Ireland or the European Schengen Area in the last 14 days ahead of their arrival in the U.S.
Trump didn't specify whether the latest immigration ban will include just employment, or other purposes such as tourism, family visits, or business-related travel. It's also not immediately clear for how long such a ban would be initially implemented.
Benzinga is covering every angle of how the coronavirus affects the financial world. For daily updates, sign up for our coronavirus newsletter.
Why It Matters
The number of unemployment claims have skyrocketed in the country since the pandemic took hold.
The Department of Labor said 5.24 million claims were filed in the week ending April 11 alone. According to Goldman Sachs analysts, the total claims could reach 37 million by the end of May.
President Donald Trump during a televised national address from the Oval Office. White House photo by Joyce Boghosian.
See more from Benzinga
-
'I Am Trying To Get More Cash': Why Mark Cuban Isn't Hopeful On US Market Rally
-
Dow, S&P Futures Drop Signaling An End To 3-Day Long Recovery Rally
© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.