US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has called a halt to all immigration into the United States until further notice.
Mr Trump took to Twitter to announce his decision, which he says was made due to both the coronavirus pandemic and to stop immigrants from taking jobs from American workers.
22 million people in the United States have filed for unemployment benefits since 14 March, when cases began to rise exponentially and multiple states began implementing social distancing measures.
The USA has the highest number of coronavirus cases of anywhere in the world, but Mr Trump is encouraging states to 'open up the economy' and send citizens back to work.
In the short statement on Twitter, the president, referring to the Covid-19 virus as 'The invisible enemy', confirmed that immigration into the US would be suspended until further notice.
He wrote:
"In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!"
Immigration is a regular talking point in Mr Trump's presidency, who ran his 2016 presidential campaign on a promise to enforce tougher borders and stricter immigration policies.
He banned all travel from China as reports of the new virus began to emerge, and later banned travel from much of Europe-- including from Ireland-- but this new decision relates not just to travel but those applying for visas and green cards in order to legally live and work in the country.
It is believed that around 33 million people in America identify as Irish or are of Irish descent-- over four times the amount of people who live in Ireland.
