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!
It would appear that Trump is now describing COVID-19 as "the Invisible Enemy". However, Trump describes COVID-19 temporarily suspending immigration to the United States will be every bit as useless as the travel restrictions he implemented against China at the end of January. Those would be the travel restrictions which Trump boasted, "We pretty much shut it down coming in from China."
Only it didn't. Indeed, the ban only applied to foreign nationals. An estimated 40,000 people have flown to America from China in the two months after Trump's so-called ban.
As it stands, more than 800,000 Americans have been infected with COVID-19 with nearly 43,000 dead. It is difficult to see how Trump's temporary suspension of immigration to the United States will be anymore useful in preventing the spread of COVID-19 any more than his Chinese travel restrictions were. Nor will it do anything to prevent the loss of American jobs which have already been lost as we have will soon have an unemployment rate in the double digits.
This is nothing more than yet another easy answer to a difficult question. What this measure does is to feed the red meat of a Trump steak to his supporters already motivated by protests against stay at home restrictions in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, North Carolina, Minnesota and Virginia and other states and ultimately to secure his re-election. This measure reinforces their blood and soil nativism against foreigners while associating the Democratic Party as the party of foreigners. What makes this different from the "Build the Wall" rallying cry is that the distinction between legal and illegal immigration has been erased. Now all immigrants are bad and equal the destruction of the economy, disease and death.
This measure is also designed to bring about "liberal tears." While decent people should be outraged our outrage should be secondary to Trump's incompetence when it came to disbanding the White House Pandemic Team, his lying about any American who wants a COVID-19 test can have one, his arbitrary allocation of PPE, ventilators and other medical equipment to the states and now his efforts to undermine social distancing. Trump's boorish behavior will make staying focused on those shortcomings very difficult as passion often overcomes reason. Maintaining reason will become even more arduous between now and November.
When discussing Trump's temporary immigration ban the main question must be,"What does this have to do with stopping the spread of COVID-19 when 800,000 Americans are already sick and more than 40,000 Americans are already dead?" Trump's apologists will attempt to obfuscate or cry fake news. But keep asking the question because they have no answer.
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