President Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday that suspends a handful of green card categories for new arrivals making their way to the United States.
The executive order, which will expire in 60 days, mostly halts legal immigration from employment-based green card categories and extended family green card categories while exempting all temporary visa worker programs, such as H-2A, H-2B, and H-1B, from the pause.
In 2018, about 355,000 foreign nationals secured employment-based and extended family green cards. About 65 percent of them arrived from overseas, and the remaining were already in the U.S. and simply adjusted their immigration status.
Foreign nationals living overseas seeking employment-based green cards and extended family green cards — also known as the “chain migration” categories — will have to wait at least 60 days before their visa processing can begin or continue.
Those living in the U.S., adjusting their status, can continue to do so under the executive order.
Specifically exempted from the executive order are green card-holders, foreign nationals seeking visas in the U.S. healthcare industry, the spouses of naturalized citizens, the minor children of naturalized citizens, foreign nationals seeking special immigrant visas, and wealthy foreign nationals seeking visas through the EB-5 visa program.
After 30 days of its implementation on April 23, White House officials will “review nonimmigrant programs and shall recommend” measures to “stimulate the United States economy and ensure the prioritization, hiring, and employment of United States workers,” the executive order reads.
Only about 10 to 20 percent of the annual 1.2 million green cards allotted to foreign nationals every year will be paused temporarily by the executive order.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
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