Like the Lernaean Hydra of Greek mythology, the coronavirus pandemic is a monster with many heads. From a viral outbreak sprang an economic crisis, which, in turn, has brought forth food shortages. Containment measures in the United States inadvertently resulted in other public health problems, such as delays for breast tumor treatment and a rise in mental health issues. Now the White House might have made a toothy addition to the corpus in the form of a national security concern.
After President Donald Trump announced he would suspend immigration to the United States to protect the jobs and wages of myriad workers affected by the pandemic, a deluge of business backlash poured on.
When Trump finally signed his proclamation on immigration, it applied primarily to individuals seeking a permanent residency while exempting several categories of foreign workers and employers. In other words, the ban hurts those who are not coming to the United States for solely economic reasons, while benefiting those who are and those who employ them. It also undid the Department of State’s pause on all routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa services, issued on March 20.
Read the rest in The National Interest.