In order to curb the spread of coronavirus in the US and protect the jobs of Americans, President Donald Trump has announced that he will be temporarily suspending immigration into the country.

"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 on Tuesday.

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!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2020

Nearly 8 lakh people have been infected with the deadly virus in the US and more than 42,000 have been killed so far.

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 of 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.

(with PTI inputs)

First Published:Apr 21, 2020 7:58 AM IST