SAN ANTONIO – Starting on Thursday at midnight, some immigration in the U.S. will be stopped following an executive order signed by President Donald Trump. The president said his move is in an effort to protect American workers.
“This will ensure unemployed Americans of all backgrounds will be first in line for jobs as our economy reopens,” he said, adding that it will also preserve the health care resources for those in the country.
Immigration attorney Ana Lisa Pena, with Pena & Quintana law firm, said the order is putting panic into legal immigrant families who are already in limbo.
“It's going to prolong family separation. It's going to compound the stress and anxiety and fear that people have already been living under,” she said.
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Legal clients she represents declined to be interview even under the condition of anonymity, she said, because of fear following the new order.
“The biggest effect I’m seeing of this is that it just exacerbates fears across the board. Even those clients that are already U.S. citizens petitioning their family members, they fear that their family will be targeted against,” she explained.
The president’s order impacts those outside the U.S. seeking green cards, the diversity lottery, employment-based visas, and family-based visas.
It does not impact the children or spouses of U.S. citizens seeking entry, nor does it impact those seeking health care worker visas, student visas or farm workers.
The president has said he could extend the 60-day order and/or modify it.
Pena said this affects the families whose process has been delayed because of COVID-19 and realized their worst fears — that their process will be delayed or rejected.