In Mar. 2020, in response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, the Trump administration changed some immigration rules, including:
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- Mar. 10: The Office of Refugee Resettlement temporarily stopped placing immigrant children in Washington state or California.
- Mar. 13: Travel from China and Iran was restricted earlier in the year and 26 European countries were added to the list in March. Green card holders and immediate family members must face additional health screenings to enter the US.
- Mar. 13: Social visitation to all ICE detention facilities was temporarily stopped.
- Mar. 16: Travel restrictions were extended to include Ireland and the UK.
- Mar. 17: A day after Guatemala closed its borders, an asylum agreement between the country and the US was suspended.
- Mar. 17: ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) will reschedule in-person appointments for immigrants who are not in detention and recent arrivals will be required to check in at 60 days after arrival instead of 30.
- Mar. 17: US Citizenship and Immigration Services suspended all in-person services, including naturalization ceremonies.
- Mar. 18: ICE suspends deportation flights to China, Italy, and South Korea.
- Mar. 18. Refugee admissions were paused after the International Organization for Migration, the organization that books flights, suspended resettlement travel.
- Mar. 18: Nonessential travel between Canada and the US has been paused by mutual agreement.
- Mar. 18: The DOJ (Department of Justice) closed more immigration courts and postponed all hearings for immigrants who are not in detention.
- Mar. 18: ICE dialed back operations, focusing on undocumented immigrants who are “subject to mandatory detention based on criminal grounds.”
- Mar. 20: The US and Mexico announced a joint effort to restrict non-essential travel between the two countries.
- Mar. 22: Trump announced undocumented immigrants could be tested for COVID-19 (coronavirus) without fear of arrest or deportation.
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