President Trump is taking extreme measures in order to protect as many American lives as possible during this outbreak of the coronavirus.

He just made the decision to close the U.S./Canadian border after already closing off travel to Europe and other countries. One more decision he’s trying to make is whether or not to close the U.S. Mexico border entirely during this time. That mean turning away all people who are trying to come here both legally and illegally, including those that are seeking asylum.

The question that some people are going to think about first is can the President actually do this? Can he ban all immigration?

Here is what Section 212(f) of the 1965 immigration act says about this:

Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.

It is likely in the best interest of our nation to temporarily ban immigration to further control the spreading of this virus.

The decision was quickly opposed by immigration lawyers.

A tweet from Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, an advocate at the American Immigration Council, said:

“Extremely concerned with this reported plan, which supposedly involves deliberately turning away asylum seekers ‘without any due process,’ including those who seek asylum at ports of entry. I am unsure whether any such legal authority exists.”

In recent days, pro-migration groups have been urging the border agencies to open the border to the 30,000 migrants who are waiting in Mexico for their asylum hearings. The migrants were sent back to Mexico by the successful “Remain in Mexico” policy. The policy is formally titled the ‘Migrant Protection Protocols.’

Sources:
Breitbart