Donald Trump considers banning entry of citizens, legal residents amid COVID-19: Report

While the coronavirus cases in the United States have surpassed 5.1 million with over 164,400 deaths, US President Donald Trump is reportedly considering fresh immigration rules that would allow the border officials to temporarily block US citizens or legal permanent residents from returning to the nation if they find the traveller a potential source or carrier of the novel coronavirus. As per the New York Times report, a draft regulation would modify the effort by Trump administration to ban entry of foreigners from coronavirus hotspots and would expand the power to prevent the entry of even American citizens. 

With drastic flare-ups in COVID-19 cases in the country, Donald Trump has been imposing significant changes to control the inflow of travellers into the nation. However, until now, all rules have exempted US citizens and foreigners who are legal residents of America. But as per recent media reports, Federal agencies have been asked to submit feedback on the proposal to the White House by Tuesday even though it remains unclear when the rule would be approved or announced. 

Read - Trump: Some Men Insulted That Biden Vowed To Name Female VP

Read - COVID-19: New Cases Emerge Among Students As Schools Reopen In US, Trump Faces Flak

Official can block citizens if has ‘reason to believe’

This brand new proposal to further contain the spread of the novel coronavirus relies on the legal authorities of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to protect the country. The official can block the citizen or legal resident from crossing the border if the government worker has ‘reason to believe’ the individual may have been exposed to COVID-19 or is infected with the deadly disease.

Some parts of the draft have been obtained by the New York Times exclusively says that any order blocking the citizens and legal permanent resident shall include appropriate protections to ensure that their constitutional rights are not infringed. It also says that America’s citizens or legal residents can not be barred to enter the United States as an entire class of people. The document reportedly does not reveal how long such individuals would be asked to remain out of the nation. Meanwhile, global infections have surpassed 20.1 million with over 738,000 deaths as per Johns Hopkins university tally and the US is the most-virus affected country.

Read - Amazon, Apple & Facebook Back Lawsuit Challenging Trump’s Suspension Of Work-visa Programs

Read - Shooting Near White House Interrupts Trump's Briefing On TV

Image: AP