Trump halts some residency applications, backing off promised suspension of all immigration

Trump signed an executive order Wednesday that suspends some residency applications, a measure far short of his earlier promise to block all immigration. It even fails to end the guest visa program for foreign laborers, the hot button he was attempting to press in the first place.

The measure is expected to stop the practice of green card holders sponsoring their extended families for permanent US residency, which the president calls chain migration. But it makes an exception for American citizens' spouses and unmarried children under the age of 21. ... Also exempt are the hundreds of thousands of green card applicants already living and working in the US, and those seeking entry to work as doctors, nurses or other healthcare professionals. Another exception is the hundreds of thousands of temporary guest visas issued each year to such applicants as farm labourers and skilled workers in the H-1B visa programme.

Some media just ran with their hurriedly recast "immigration banned!" headlines and stories, leading with the White House claims and barely touching upon (or simply not finding out about) the array of exemptions. The deepest problem with media is not false balance, bias or fake news. It is the speed and frequency at which things must be posted. Read the rest