Lawyers Say That Canadian Lawyers Might Be Exempt From The US’s Migration Ban
Late in June 2020, Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending the majority of business and student-work VISAs for the rest of 2020. The executive order was made public by the White House on June 23, with details on their website, and was met with confusion across the globe.
The executive order was announced from the White House, and specifically bans the entry of workers operating under several common VISA categories, like H, J, and L, which has, in turn, resulted in the upending of hundreds of thousands of jobs and businesses across the world, with Canada being hit as well.
However, Canada’s immigration lawyers noted that there’s a partial loophole for Canadians that lets them get past the executive order’s restrictions.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association recently posted on their website a message for its members, which they got from the US Customers and Border Protection, saying that all US border posts were given instructions to exempt Canadian immigrants from the White House’s immigration ban.
Initially, there was confusion among the Canadian legal field as to whether or not Canadians were exempt, as the wording of the order was ambiguous enough to allow some wiggle room, not helped by different interpretations of the order from different border posts.
Thankfully, the AILA issued the statement, noting that they’ve received proper assurance from the US government, with local ports of entry receiving specific orders on the matter.
Section 3 of the executive order states that the VISA ban only applies to any people who reside outside the US that lack proper travel documentation or a VISA, which is notable due to the fact that Canadian passports count as a valid travel document to the US.
This executive order is an escalation of Trump’s anti-immigration policies, which he cast as a measure to protect more than half a million American jobs amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, which has removed at least 18 million jobs across the US.
Boundless Immigration Co-Founder and President Doug Rand, a former immigration official during President Obama’s tenure, considers the order as a tragedy, a self-inflicted wound for the US; its values, economy, and its ability to fight back against COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Prof. William R. Kerr, Harvard, published a paper earlier in 2020 that warned that the US’s outdated immigration system is in dire need of reform, otherwise it loses its ability to draw top talent to immigrate to it, a major part of the country’s growth throughout history.
