Taghribnews (TNA) - Trump blasted over new plan to suspend immigration into US

US President Donald Trump’s new order to suspend immigration into the country has not been welcomed as the House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries calls the president “Xenophobe in chief.”

Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine also took to Twitter on Tuesday to call Trump’s move a "pathetic attempt to shift blame from his Visible Incompetence to an Invisible Enemy.”

The president is expected to sign an executive order closing off the country as early as this week allegedly to battle the spread of the novel coronavirus.

"Tonight we have crossed 790,000 infections and 42,000 dead. This corrupt buffoon will will [sic] try any poisonous distraction and blame anyone to deflect from his failures that are killing our fellow Americans," tweeted New Jersey Democratic Representative Bill Pascrell.

The Trump administration has announced that the ban "had been under consideration for a while.”

“Immigrants have always made America great. Suspending immigration & giving into racism & xenophobia won’t solve our problems,” said Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal on Twitter. “Instead it will have a catastrophic impact on our health care, food supply & the systems we are relying upon during this crisis.”

The White House has argued that the move is necessary to protect the health of Americans.

“President Trump is committed to protecting the health and economic well-being of American citizens as we face unprecedented times,” said White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. “As President Trump has said, ‘Decades of record immigration have produced lower wages and higher unemployment for our citizens, especially for African-American and Latino workers.’ At a time when Americans are looking to get back to work, action is necessary.”