By Grace Meng

This week, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order on immigration that doesn't do what he said the order would do when he tweeted about it earlier in the week. Although he declared that he would “temporarily suspend immigration” into the United States, the actual order suspends issuance for 60 days a subset of green cards (officially, a permanent resident card): some employer-based green cards and some family-member green card applications, all from outside the United States. And as multiple media outlets have pointed out, the US Department of State, which issues visas overseas, has already nearly suspended operations due to the global Covid-19 pandemic. It’s not clear how many people this order will actually affect, at least for now.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean we can dismiss the latest Trump executive order as harmless.

The order separates families for no rational reason. The children of lawful permanent residents or the elderly parents of US citizens are hardly competing for American jobs. But as long as this order is in effect, green card holders will not be able to bring their children or spouses to the United States and US citizens will not be able to bring their parents, adult children, or siblings.

The order is the latest in a series of executive orders, policies, and statements  that paint immigrants as the “enemy.” And xenophobic, anti-immigrant policies and language are dangerous. They undermine the reality that immigrants boost the US economy and are serving in essential roles to keep this country healthy and safe. They also fuel dangerous, racist actions, as seen by the recent rise of hate crimes against Asian Americans.

Nor is the administration likely to keep this suspension “temporary.” The first executive order barring entry of people from seven Muslim-majority countries was initially in effect for 90 days – three years later, the ban lives on. The March 24 order by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention allowing officials to expel unauthorized migrants at land borders without screenings for asylum or other protections was originally in effect for 30 days but was just recently extended for another 30. President Trump sought to limit legal immigration in legislative proposals that Congress rejected. Now he’s trying to implement his agenda through executive action.

The US immigration system has long needed reform – to protect families, to protect workers, to protect asylum seekers, and to protect due process. The Covid-19 pandemic has only made more apparent the crucial role immigrant workers play in the US economy, and how difficult and dangerous work conditions can be for US citizens and immigrants, as made obvious by the outbreak in meatpacking plants across the US. The best way to protect American workers during this crisis and beyond is to acknowledge the contributions of immigrants and ensure all workers in this country are able to work in safety and with dignity.

Grace Meng a senior researcher in the US Program at Human Rights Watch.