By Rogers Wanambwa

KIU, Main Campus - Last month, U.S. President Joe Biden revoked an executive action by his antecedent banning legal immigration for family members of U.S. citizens and residents, and diversity visa lottery recipients.

According to a statement from Biden, Trump’s order blocking green card applicants and temporary foreign workers “does not advance the interests of the United States.” 

“To the contrary, it harms the United States, including by preventing certain family members of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents from joining their families here,” Biden said.

“It also harms industries in the United States that utilize talent from around the world. And it harms individuals who were selected to receive the opportunity to apply for, and those who have likewise received, immigrant visas through the Fiscal Year 2020 Diversity Visa Lottery,” he added.

Besides, the Trump administration, which twice extended the suspension that is set to expire on March 31, insisted that the ban was necessary to protect American workers and the U.S. labor market during the Coronavirus pandemic.

“The admission of workers within several non-immigrant visa categories also posed a risk of displacing and disadvantaging United States workers during the economic recovery following the COVID-19 outbreak,” Trump said in a declaration issued last year.