ST. LOUIS — President Donald Trump announced Monday night he's temporarily suspending immigration into the United States due to the coronavirus pandemic and in order to protect jobs.
Tuesday afternoon, the president elaborated on the plan. According to NBC News, the order would be a 60-day "pause" on applications for lawful permanent residents, more commonly known as green cards. He said the new order "will not apply to those entering on a temporary basis."
For more than 100 years, the International Institute of St. Louis has been the community's immigrant service and information hub.
President and CEO Anna Crosslin said they sponsor refugees as they work.
"They really are a part of the engine that drives our economy," she said. "Refugee arrivals are a larger percentage of immigrant arrivals in St. Louis than other areas in the country, and there's an impact that we're seeing on that."
She explained many refugees come to the St. Louis region for jobs and contribute to corporations. A wave of 40 came to St. Louis right before the stay-at-home orders took place. Now, staff and volunteers are helping refugees, as they isolate.
But with the coronavirus pandemic, refugees coming into the U.S. have been put on pause.
"Since early March, refugees have not been arriving to the U.S. because temporary halt in that program," Crosslin said. "Passport offices haven't really been issuing passports around the world. Most aren't issuing visas right now."
That's why Crosslin is wondering what Pres. Trump's order will exactly do.
"I was surprised, to put it mildly, because as so many actions are already in place. Who will be eliminated and for how long is really questionable right now," she added.
As of Monday, the U.S., Mexico and Canada extended restrictions on non-essential travel for another 30 days.
Also, there are restrictions on travel to the U.S. from China and hard-hit European countries. But Pres. Trump has yet to extend those restrictions to other nations experiencing virus outbreaks.