Trump says will sign executive order to temporarily suspend immigration into US
Washington: President Donald Trump has said that he will sign an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration into America, amid the coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 40,000 people in the US, the country with the most fatalities in the pandemic.
The number of people killed in the US due to COVID-19 has reached 42,094, according to Johns Hopkins University, and more than 750,000 cases have been confirmed.
"In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States! Trump said in a tweet late on Monday night.
Details of the Trump's executive order were not immediately known. He also did not indicate when he will sign such an order.
While Trump talked about suspending immigration visa, the H-1B visa, which is more popular among Indian IT professionals, is a non-immigrant visa. But his reasoning that he needs to protect jobs of American citizens indicates that non-immigrant work visas too might be on his target.
The United States, due to coronavirus, has experienced a record layoff. As off last week, a record number of 22 million Americans have applied for unemployment benefits.
Trump has already closed the Northern and Southern border that attracts a large number of illegal immigrants. Travel restrictions and closing of consulate services in many countries including India are already having an impact on issuing of new H-1B visas.
Last month, the United States suspended all routine visa services around the world due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
Globally, more than 2.4 million people have been infected with the virus and over 165,000 killed, according to the the univeristy tracker.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
