Trump to ‘suspend immigration into US’ due to COVID-19

WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump said Monday that he will sign an executive order "to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States" due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"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 tweeted.

He did not offer any timeframe for signing the order.

The announcement came amid criticism against the president and his administration for their alleged failure to tackle the global disease, which has killed more than 42,000 people in the country.

The U.S. recently closed its borders with Canada and Mexico for non-essential travel in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.

In mid-March, the State Department halted all visa services in most countries worldwide in response to the pandemic.

The U.S. leads the world in the number of coronavirus infections and deaths with nearly 787,000 cases as well as 42,308 fatalities and more than 72,700 recoveries.

Since the virus emerged last December in the Chinese city of Wuhan, it has spread to at least 185 countries and regions.

There are more than 2.4 million confirmed infections globally and more than 170,000 deaths.