The NPR Politics Podcast - Trump's Immigration Order Stops Far Short Of Total Ban

Episode Date: April 23, 2020

Late Monday night, President Trump tweeted that he would sign an executive order suspending all immigration into the United States. The proclamation that came on later in the week stopped well short of that, temporarily halting some green card processing with plenty of carve-outs.This episode: campaign correspondent Asma Khalid, White House correspondent Tamara Keith, and national political correspondent Mara Liasson.Email the show at [e-mail] Join the Facebook group at n.pr/politicsgroup Subscribe to our newsletter at npr.org/politicsnewsletter Find and support your local public radio station at donate.npr.orgLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Hi, this is Margaret from Durham, North Carolina, where my neighbor is teaching me hula hoop tricks from across the street, like how to spin the hoop around my knees while recording a timestamp. This podcast was recorded at... I love that. 1.57 p.m. on Thursday, April 23rd. Things may have changed by the time you hear it. Oops, dropped it.

Okay, here's the show. Hope you enjoy. And there's someone who knows how to get herself on the radio. Memory Lane. I haven't used a hula hoop in years. I don't know that I could still do a hula hoop, actually. Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Asma Khalid. I cover the presidential campaign. I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House. I'm Mara Liason, national political correspondent. President Trump has signed an executive action that puts a 60-day halt on new green cards for folks coming in from overseas. It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrant labor flown in from abroad.

We must first take care of the American worker. Take care of the American worker. But there are a number of carve-outs. And on Monday, the president tweeted that he would be signing an order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States. We should be clear that what has actually been signed and what he announced via tweet are not exactly the same thing. Yeah, so what he announced via tweet sounded like very all-encompassing. What is in this proclamation that the president signed yesterday is a bit narrower than that. As you say, there are carve-outs, for instance, for guest workers, including guest workers who are very important to the current moment.

People who are involved in the food supply chain, also medical workers. This is really just about people who are outside of the United States right now who would be seeking green cards, who would be seeking permanent residence in the United States. And just the other thing to mention about all of this is that basically nobody's coming or going from any country right now. I mean, this is like a time of historically low immigration movement, flights, all of those things because of the coronavirus. And we should be clear, as you mentioned, Tam, I mean, there are carve outs. So this order has exceptions for overseas spouses, children of American citizens, and of course, healthcare professionals, many of whom are immigrants. And H-1B visas. Oh, yes, skilled workers too, potentially. And you know, it was really interesting, the reaction from people who want to limit legal immigration, like Mark Krikorian,

who's president of the Center for Immigration Studies. He told the Wall Street Journal that this was, quote, a PR stunt more than anything else. So it has so many carve outs that it's not, as the president tweeted, an executive order to, quote, temporarily suspend immigration into the United States. That's not what this does. It's not even technically an executive order to, quote, temporarily suspend immigration into the United States. That's not what this does. It's not even technically an executive order, but that's just my hobby horse. It's a proclamation. Well, he called it an executive order.

Right, right, right. So I want to ask about something you mentioned, Tam, which is that we're already in a situation where there's really limited travel between any countries. The president has already instituted travel bans from China and Europe. You know, we can't really get to Canada. Like the U.S.-Canada border has been essentially sealed. So I guess I want to understand better what this means, because if you're talking about a 60-day ban when there's really no movement

and no immigration at this point anyhow, then what is the point? The U.S.-Mexico border is also basically sealed, along with the U.S.-Canada border. The U.S. has already effectively canceled asylum. There are any number of other immigration moves the administration has already made, some because of coronavirus, some before that, that means that this one doesn't do a lot. Kevin Hassett, who is leading some of the economic work at the White House related to the coronavirus, was asked, well, did you do an economic analysis of this executive action? And he said, no, there probably won't be any economic impact because nobody's going anywhere. According to the president, the economic impact is supposed to be that we're going to put Americans first in line for jobs that are open.

It sounds like you guys are saying that because we've already had travel bans, there's really limited movement of people. So just to be really clear, the president has temporarily halted the issuing of new green cards, right, for 60 days. But were we in a situation where green cards were really actively being doled out? Well, in fact, a lot of the consular offices around the world are essentially shut down or down to a trickle because, again, of the coronavirus. But, you know, the thing is that that halting immigration or not the extent of it, that this could likely continue as long as President Trump is in office. Well, you know, temporarily, but also mostly symbolically, because you mentioned green cards aren't going to be handed out at American embassies around the

world. That's true. But 90% of employment-based green cards go to people who are already living here, and those people are not affected by this executive action. So it does very little, but it sends a big message. It sends a message about immigration, which is the president's go-to issue and has been ever since he rode down the escalator at Trump Tower to announce his candidacy. And it tells Americans, I'm not going to let you, four in ten of you have already lost jobs or wages, I'm not going to let you be replaced by an immigrant. That's the message. All right, we're going to take a quick break. And when we get back, we'll talk more about the president's messaging and how this new executive action ties in with his reelection efforts. This message comes from NPR sponsor StoryPoint Wines, maker of StoryPoint, a bold new wine brand with a rich

layered taste profile. Enjoy StoryPoint wine while you connect with those you love, either at home or at a virtual happy hour. Raise a glass and share a story. StoryPoint believes that the stories we share can bring joy even in trying times. Visit storypointvineyards.com slash politics to purchase. Shipping is included in your online order, so consider shipping a bottle to a friend, too. We live in a culture that prizes action. But now, former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy

says it's important to make space to just be. Simply spending five minutes just listening to the birds chirping or to the conversation around you. Solitude and ways to overcome loneliness on the next Hidden Brain from NPR. And we're back. And I want to talk more about the messaging that you mentioned, Mara, because this move by the president is exactly in sync with his political brand. And it comes at a moment when a lot of the other aspects of how his administration has handled the pandemic, he hasn't really been

able to get under control, right? And this feels like something that he can tangibly point to for his base just months away from the election. Yeah, this is the pandemic is the first crisis, not of his own making. And he has been having trouble getting a hold of it, getting enough testing, getting people to think that he's on top of the crisis. That's something that, of course, he complains about his press coverage every single day in the briefings. But sure, one thing that presidents have control over is immigration and trade policy. Those are things they can affect with executive actions and executive orders. And you've seen him do this time and time again. Sometimes not much comes of

it. Remember when he threatened to shut down the border with Mexico? That didn't happen. So it's actually happening now. Well, not for commerce. Well, yes, but not because of, yeah, yeah. But so this is something he can do. It can also, one thing the president is always focused on is his base. He knows what they care about. They do care about immigration. And he wants to remind them that he cares about it too and that he is going to do everything he can to protect them

against foreign workers coming in to take their jobs. That's what he's warned about all along. Right now, that's really not a problem. As a matter of fact, if you look at the frontline workers, whether they are delivering food, working in an ambulance or an emergency room, there is a extremely high percentage of immigrant workers. Now, I'm not talking about people with green cards. Maybe they're already American citizens, but they are immigrants. And that's the face of the frontline of this crisis. You know, Mara, this makes me think of something else that happened in the briefing recently, which is the head of the Army Corps of Engineers was in to talk about building field hospitals

and other work that the administration had done to sort of bolster the response and help hospitals and cities that are overwhelmed. And President Trump was like, hey, while you're here, can you talk about how the wall is coming along? I haven't counted all the times that President Trump has brought up the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, but he talks about it a lot in these coronavirus briefings, which gives you a hint at what these coronavirus briefings have become. Yes, they are about conveying important information

about the fight against the coronavirus. But the president has done the bulk of the talking, not the scientists. And the president talks about a lot of things. In a way, these briefings have become the closest he can get to a rally. Yeah. And the other thing is that the main rationale for his re-election was supposed to be the booming economy. That obviously has disappeared. So what's he left with? He's left with China. You know, the fact that he says he put this ban on travel from China. The WHO is controlled by China. Joe Biden is too friendly with China. And immigration. His message for re-election has devolved. And it's now going to be, I think, about China and immigration. His message for reelection has devolved. And it's

now going to be, I think, about China and immigration and, of course, destroying Joe Biden. And even on China, I mean, there is a degree to which Joe Biden's campaign and the Democrats are trying to point out the sort of multi-speak that Trump has had at moments, right, around his relationship with the pandemic. Sure, that he praised China over and over and over again in January, in February. And they have advertisements of this sort. So it feels like really what he's left with, President Trump, is just blaming immigrants. I mean, that's where he has been so familiar. He started his first presidential run that way, and it's a very familiar place for him. Yeah, I think it's the number one, two, and three issue for him. It's his bedrock issue,

us versus them. And at the top of the list of thems, before you get to Democratic governors and the fake news media, it's immigrants. look at how much worse it could have been. Look, nobody was ever denied a ventilator. In other countries, people were denied a ventilator. And in theory, if, and this is a big theory, if this can get under control, if there are enough therapeutics, if the curve is bent enough, and the economy is able to gradually restart, then the president can campaign on, look at how far we've come already. We were down in the dumps and we are back again. We are going to make America great again, again. He's already saying that in every briefing. The problem is saying it could have been worse is a really hard argument to run on. Okay, well, that is it for today. We'll be back tomorrow with

our weekly roundup. Until then, you can head to n.pr slash politics newsletter to subscribe to our newsletter. It's a roundup of our best online analysis. I'm Asma Khalid. I cover the presidential campaign. I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House. I'm Mara Liason, national political correspondent. And thank you for listening to the NPR Politics Podcast.