Trump curbs immigration amid anger over his handling of virus pandemic

US President Donald Trump has suspended immigration to the United States, claiming the move is aimed at protecting his people and their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic.

The order, signed Wednesday, suspends new immigration for at least 60 days.

It is applied to people who are currently outside of the US seeking entry and do not currently have a valid visa, according to the text.

Under the order, more than 20,000 people per month would be blocked from obtaining a US green card of permanent residence, based on an analysis by the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute

'Xenophobe in chief': Trump blasted over plan to suspend immigration into US

US President Donald Trump’s suspension of immigration to the country is drawing backlash.

The president said, “In order to protect our great American workers, I have just signed an executive order temporarily suspending immigration into the United States.”

“This will ensure that unemployed Americans of all backgrounds will be first in line for jobs as our economy reopens,” he added.

Trump, who is under fire for his handling of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, claimed that the move will “preserve our healthcare resources for American patients.”

Trump’s decision, which has drawn condemnation from Democrats, is in line with one of his long-term policy goals of curbing immigration.

The president had promised in 2016 to curb immigration by building a wall on the US border with Mexico, and launched a crackdown on both legal and illegal entries into the country soon after he assumed office.

Most Americans continue to disapprove of Trump's handling of coronavirus: Poll

A majority of American voters continue to disapprove of President Donald Trump

Democrats and immigrant advocates say Trump’s decision to limit immigration is aimed at distracting people from his response to the current health crisis, which has claimed the lives of at least 47,0,00 people in the country.

The US, the hardest-hit by the coronavirus in the world, has now at least 830,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to a Reuters tally.

Deaths from the highly contagious respiratory disease totaled 47,050 in the country on Wednesday, with the day’s count about 1,800 and some states have yet to report.

The fatalities increased by 2,792 on Tuesday alone.

New York state, the epicenter of the US outbreak, reported 474 new deaths on Wednesday.

Some nearby states such as Pennsylvania and New Jersey reported record single-day deaths tolls on Tuesday.

A University of Washington model projected a total of nearly 66,000 deaths by August.

At current rates, deaths caused by COVID-19 could reach 50,000 later this week.

The virus outbreak, which has also frozen the US economy, caused the closure factories and mines, malls and restaurants left millions of Americans unemployed, and the country’s industrial output to plunge at the steepest rate in more than 70 years.

A handful of Republican-led states are now considering reopening parts of their economy, while according to a coronavirus model, no state should be opening before May 1.

Georgia shouldn't reopen even until June 19, almost four weeks from now, according to the University of Washington.

Trump, who is seeking reelection in November, applauded steps taken the states, including South Carolina and Tennessee, to start reopening their economies.

New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, however, warned of a potential “second wave” if restrictions were relaxed irresponsibly.

“This is no time to act stupidly,” Cuomo said Tuesday. “More people are going to die if we are not smart.”

He also warned local officials against making decisions based upon political pressure.

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