NEW YORK, United States (CMC) — Caribbean American Democratic Congresswoman Yvette D Clarke has welcomed a United States federal judge’s blocking of President Donald J Trump’s ban on Caribbean and other foreign workers.
“Since coming to power, this administration has used every tool at its disposal to eliminate legal immigration, as we know it, to appease their base,” Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).
“With a host of policies stemming from the malicious mind of Stephen Miller (Trump’s national political advisor), spanning from forcing children into cages to the Muslim ban, this administration has sought to use the power of the federal government to whitewash the American population,” said Clarke, who represents the predominantly Caribbean 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, New York.
“We cannot allow them to use the chaos and pain caused by the pandemic as a cover to further ingratiate their xenophobic policies deeper into the fabric of our legislative immigration framework.”
Judge Jeffrey S White of US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that Trump overstepped his authority in suspending new visas for hundreds of thousands of Caribbean and other foreign workers amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The judge temporarily prohibited further implementation of the sweeping order, issued in June, as it applied to thousands of companies seeking to bring workers to the United States on a wide variety of visas, including the H-1B for high-skilled workers and seasonal workers on guest-worker visas.
“Congress’ delegation of authority in the immigration context does not afford the President unbridled authority to set domestic policy regarding employment of non-immigrant foreigners,” wrote Judge White in his 25-page ruling.
“Indeed, there must be some measure of constraint on Presidential authority in the domestic sphere in order not to render the executive an entirely monarchical power in the immigration context, an area within clear legislative prerogative,” he added.
