A federal judge in the United States refused to suspend President Donald Trump's recent executive order that put a 60-day ban on green cards for most immigrants due to the coronavirus crisis. Trump's order came last week, after he vowed that he'd halt immigration to the United States during the Covid-19 crisis. But in the end he limited the order to a 60-day freeze on most green cards while still allowing visa-processing for hundreds of thousands of temporary employees like farm workers and crop pickers, who make up the majority of immigrants in the US. As a result of the pandemic, many other countries too have implemented restrictions on entry and exit, visa and work permit issuance, closed borders, tightened quarantine rules and taken other measures to protect themselves.
What are green cards?

• They give immigrants legal permanent residence and the opportunity to apply for American citizenship.
• In a typical year, nearly one million green cards are issued in the US
• The majority - roughly 70% - go to those with relatives living in the US, according to a 2018 report from the US Senate
• For employment-based green cards, a common form of the residency status, roughly 80% are issued to those already in the country, shifting from a temporary visa to permanent residence.

Who will be affected?

• According to US President the executive order would only apply to immigrants seeking permanent residency in the United States, a process informally known as obtaining a green card.
• The order will not affect people entering on temporary non-immigrant visas. Such visas are used by tourists, business travelers and foreign workers.
• The U.S. Department of State issued roughly 462,000 immigrant visas in fiscal year 2019, which began on Oct. 1, 2018. How many immigrant visa applicants might be affected by Trump's planned executive order remains unclear.
• US President did not say what the executive order would mean for people who have immigrant visas and jobs secured in the United States but have not yet moved to the United States.

Reason Behind Taking such a Step:

• U.S. economy in stress: Like many others across the world, the US economy has grounded to a virtual halt in the face of the pandemic.
• An electoral issue: Proposals to restrict immigration served well during the 2016 presidential election, particularly when they were situated in the context of protecting jobsfor U.S. workers.
• To take electoral benefits: The deeper context to the announcement is the fact that the present president is seeking re-election in the upcoming election.

Challenges

• Though this commentary focuses heavily on the potential longer-term implications of restrictions to labor migration, already vulnerable forced migrants will also suffer from fewer movement options. 
• Already at risk of COVID-19, the forcibly displaced—refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced persons—and other forced migrants are also faced with diminished institutional capacity offering them support.
• There is growing evidence that limits on safe, orderly, and regular migration push vulnerable people—as many as 100 million globally —into shadowy irregular pathways. 
• Countries such as the Philippines, Bangladesh, Ghana, and Honduras rely heavily on remittances from citizens abroad. 
• In 2018, the developing world as a whole received $529 billion in remittances, 75 percent of total foreign direct investment inflows received in the same year. 
• If migrant labor abroad is significantly disrupted by the economic shocks detailed above, those sources of income for families across the developing world will be impacted, creating ripple effects throughout their economies and, in turn, further widening the gap between the richer and poorer countries.
• Even  International Labour Organization (ILO) has warned that nearly half of the entire global workforce is in immediate danger of having their livelihoods destroyed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Road Ahead

• Advanced economies like the United States should consider donating or lenting (on concessionary terms) their SDRs to a trust fund dedicated to helping poorer countries.
• At the same time, there is a need to work towards eliminating problems such as social and economic disparities caused by globalization.
• Once the world recovers from crisis, it is crucial to create mechanisms to respond to disease through effective international cooperation.