NEW YORK, April 22: US President Donald Trump has said that his immigration ban will be for only 60 days and indicated that workers on temporary visas like H1-B for professionals could continue to come in.
"This order will apply only to individuals seeking a permanent residency, in other words, those receiving green cards; big factor, will not apply to those entering on a temporary basis," Trump said on Tuesday while clarifying that it is for only 60 days.
He said that there would also be some exemptions to the temporary ban on immigrants.
"Some people will have to come in; obviously we have to do that, obviously even from a humane standpoint," he said.
Trump had tweeted the immigration ban on Monday night. He said that the executive order was being drafted and will probably be issued on Wednesday.
Trump said that after 60 days he and a group will evaluate the need for any extension or modification "based on economic conditions at that time".
An immigration lawyer, Mark Davies, said that based upon the president's comments H1-B visas for professionals, and temporary visas known as E-2 for a category of investors and L-1 visas for employees of foreign companies transferred to work in the US are not affected. But he added, "This may change as more information emerges."
These categories of visas are temporary and do not of themselves confer permanent residence or path to citizenship.
But Davies said that the immigration ban would affect another category of visas for investors known as EB-5 because it "is a fast route to a Green Card for families and individuals able to invest $900,000".
Trump said that he was solely motivated by the plight of American workers rendered jobless by the COVID-19 epidemic. � IANS
