President Donald Trump issued an order on Thursday extending restrictions on certain work visas, citing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its effect on employment.
The proclamation was issued just hours before the existing order was to expire, The Hill reports.
"The 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to significantly disrupt Americans' livelihoods," the proclamation reads. "While the November overall unemployment rate in the United States of 6.7 percent reflects a marked decline from its April high, there were still 9,834,000 fewer seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs in November than in February of 2020."
The proclamation bars immigrants on several visas through March, unless President-elect Biden reverses the order upon taking office on January 20. Biden has vowed to undo many of Trump's immigration policies, but reversing the visa order if unemployment among American workers remains high would likely be an unpopular move.
The suspension applies to H-1B visas, H-2B visas, H-4 visas, L-1 visas and to some J-1 visas.
H-1B visas, the largest program affected, applies to skilled workers in the tech industry. H-2B visas apply to seasonal workers, while H-4 visas are for spouses of H-1B visa holders.
L-1 visas are for executives transferring from another country with the same employer, while J-1 visas are for researchers, scholars and others, including au pairs.
Immigration restriction advocates had urged the president to extend the order to protect American jobs, though groups including the Chamber of Commerce, Google, and Twitter opposed it.
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