indica News Bureau-
The Immigration Reform Institute (IRLI) has called a court’s ruling Wednesday upholding President Trump’s coronavirus immigration ban pausing the issuance of green cards to aliens from certain countries a victory.
U.S. District Judge Michael Simon in Oregon upheld Trump’s executive order putting a 60-day hold on green cards for most immigrants because of the coronavirus crisis.
The IRLI, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief defending Trump’s order, praised the decision by Simon, an appointee of President Barack Obama.
“We applaud the court’s reasonable ruling,” said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI. “It is especially important because this was the first challenge to President Trump’s immigration pause, and its rejection will resonate in future assaults on his lawful authority to protect Americans’ well-being during these dire economic times.”
At a White House briefing last week Trump announced he would issue the order.
“It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrants, labor flown in from abroad,” Trump said, after tens of millions of Americans filed for unemployment benefits in recent weeks. “We must first take care of the American worker, take care of the American worker.”