Trump says temporarily suspending immigration will protect jobs, health of Americans
John Roberts reports from the White House on the decision.
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"The View" co-host Ana Navarro attacked President Trump's plan to suspend immigration, arguing that it disrespected undocumented immigrants who were working to provide food for the country during the coronavirus pandemic.
"One thing that has not been spoken about enough -- there has been no food shortage," Navarro said on Wednesday.
"There has been no stop of the food supply in the United States. If you were able to pour fresh milk into your cereal this morning, if you had sliced strawberries, if you have been eating meat, if you have been drinking dairy, it's probably because there are immigrants, undocumented immigrants in the fields of America risking their lives, working not at six feet apart in order to continue feeding us.
"So you know how we often like to say and you often hear, oh, immigrants do the job that nobody else is willing to do? Well, a lot of those jobs include risking their lives so the rest of us can be in quarantine, and we can stop this evil pandemic," she added. "So, we really have to think about just how much immigration has meant to flattening this curve and dealing with this issue -- legal and undocumented -- that's the damn truth."
Her comments came as "The View" co-hosts panned President Trump's immigration order.
Co-host Sunny Hostin argued that Trump was disingenuous in his purported concern for American jobs.
"You know, the upcoming ban, again, it's going to exempt seasonal foreign farm worker visas, which is one of the largest sources of immigration at the moment, and so this is, again, just sort of this hazy deflection -- red meat for his base, he thinks it's going to work," she said.
Co-host Joy Behar similarly said that Trump's "answer to everything is to ban immigrants and scapegoat foreigners to fire up the hardliners in his base."
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Their comments piled onto existing criticism of Trump's decision to halt immigration. Trump has defended the move as a way to contain the coronavirus and protect American workers.
But according to the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), Trump's actions were appropriate given the circumstances.
"President Trump's action to suspend all immigration is perfectly legal and appropriate. Federal law endows the chief executive with broad powers in times of national crisis. Coronavirus is crippling both the health and work prospects of American citizens. To allow a continued influx of foreign nationals at this time would only worsen the situation," said Dale Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI.
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Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan recently told Fox News that Trump's previous immigration restrictions have been critical in preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
"Look at where we've come because of this president, because of this administration, because of the tools, including the wall ... We're much better positioned now today to handle another threat to our country today through infectious disease," he said.
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