Donald Trump's latest attempt to limit immigration to the US is receiving a wall of condemnation from Asian American and medical organizations.
Trump issued an executive order on Monday (June 23) limiting legal immigration through the rest of 2020. The order restricts H-1B visas, which include specialty occupations such as tech workers and postdoctoral scholars; H-2B, temporary non-agricultural workers; certain categories of J visas, which includes international workers typically hired to temporarily fill jobs like au pairs, camp counselors, and more; and L-visas, which are used for intracompany transfers.
The order does not include agricultural workers and makes exceptions for those who would be in the national interest, like medical professionals essential in fighting Covid-19 and caring for patients afflicted with the coronavirus.
Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27), Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, issued the following statement:
“Once again, despite claiming that he loves immigrants and only wants to uphold the law, Donald Trump demonstrates his goal is to upend our laws in order to end all immigration," said Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27), Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, in a statement.
“Once again, despite claiming that he loves immigrants and only wants to uphold the law, Donald Trump demonstrates his goal is to upend our laws in order to end all immigration," said Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27), Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, in a statement.
The California Democrat said Trump is using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to curtail legal immigration to the United States, chipping away at decades of immigration policies that have enabled our nation to attract top talent from around the world that has bolstered the US economy until Trump was elected.
"This will disproportionately impact high-skilled workers from Asia, who overwhelming utilize the H1-B visa system and account for over 80 percent of H1-B visa holders in the United States. It’s a purely xenophobic and bigoted agenda that actually works against our national interest. As the exceptions to this order prove, immigrants are vital to our economy.
"Immigrants are not only needed in agriculture and medicine – two wildly divergent fields – they’re needed in business, academia, and everything in between as well. If we want to rebuild our economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot close ourselves off from immigrants.
New American Economy launched an Immigrants and COVID-19 Portal this year to show the vital role immigrants play in the country's fight against the coronavirus pandemic, as well as its response and recovery.
The report from NAE pointed out that in health care, AAPIs account for more than 20 percent of physicians and surgeons, about 14 percent of whom are immigrants. And 1 in 11 nurses are AAPI, about 75 percent of whom are immigrants. AAPIs also support the country’s food supply chain by as workers in agriculture, food processing plants, grocery stores and restaurants.
The report from NAE pointed out that in health care, AAPIs account for more than 20 percent of physicians and surgeons, about 14 percent of whom are immigrants. And 1 in 11 nurses are AAPI, about 75 percent of whom are immigrants. AAPIs also support the country’s food supply chain by as workers in agriculture, food processing plants, grocery stores and restaurants.
Adding their voice to those questioning Trump's anti-immigrant positions was a national organization of doctors.
"We are concerned that the limited exception for physicians, nurses and other health professionals will not ensure that IMGs (International medical graduates) are able to enter the U.S. for education, training, research and medical care if it is not directly related to COVID-19," said Dr. Jacqueline W. Fincher, President of the American College of Physicians.
“Trump continues to advance his xenophobic agenda to divide the country and scapegoat immigrants. He’s used every moment of crisis, every failure of his as an opportunity to expand his nativist policies and prevent hardworking families from reunification," said Megan Essaheb, Director of Immigration Advocacy at Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC.
"Instead of building infrastructure for testing, contact tracing, and PPE that would diminish the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump Administration is going after immigrants and foreign workers in a bid to distract from its immense failures.," Alvina Yeh, Executive Director of Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO. "The Administration has already killed more than 100,000 Americans due to their inaction on COVID-19: they are seeking to bring harm upon thousands more families with this immigrant ban."
"Instead of building infrastructure for testing, contact tracing, and PPE that would diminish the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump Administration is going after immigrants and foreign workers in a bid to distract from its immense failures.," Alvina Yeh, Executive Director of Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO. "The Administration has already killed more than 100,000 Americans due to their inaction on COVID-19: they are seeking to bring harm upon thousands more families with this immigrant ban."
Since taking office, immigration has been one of his top issues, from building a wall in the country's southern border, a ban on travelers from certain Muslim countries, separating young children from their parents, tightening the requirements for refugees, and trying to remove family reunification as a prioritiy for US immigration policy.
In addition, last week, the US Supreme Court rejected his attempt to end the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) that allowed those immigrants who arrived with their parents who entered the country without documents.
Statement attributable to:
Jacqueline W. Fincher, MD, MACP
President, American College of Physicians
Washington, DC (June 23, 2020) — The American College of Physicians (ACP) is concerned that the executive order that President Trump issued yesterday to suspend immigration in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic will have a broad, negative impact on U.S. health care and calls for its immediate withdrawal.
International medical graduates (IMGs) and other non-citizens are critical members of our country’s health care delivery system. We are concerned that the limited exception for physicians, nurses and other health professionals will not ensure that IMGs are able to enter the U.S. for education, training, research and medical care if it is not directly related to COVID-19. A new class of resident physicians are scheduled to begin their training in a little more than a week, including many IMGs who are poised to arrive in the U.S. and begin treating patients.
The order could additionally hinder the ability of other scientists to enter the U.S. for teaching, research, public health collaboration and other essential activities. It would also restrict their family members from entering the U.S., placing undue stress on them at an already impossibly stressful time.
We urge the administration to withdraw this order and instead shift their focus to evidence-based efforts that can help us to mitigate the impact and spread of this virus. If the administration declines to withdraw the order, Congress should enact legislation to stop it from going into effect. Now is the time to be focusing on increasing our health system’s capacity and supporting physicians and other health care professionals.
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