Trump administration extends ban on work visas

The Trump administration said it was extending a ban on green cards issued outside the United States until the end of the year and adding many temporary work visas to the freeze, according to a report from the Associated Press.

The ban on new visas applies to H-1B visas, which are widely used by major American and Indian technology company workers and their families, H-2B visas for nonagricultural seasonal workers, J-1 visas for cultural exchanges, and L-1 visas for managers and other key employees of multinational corporations. There will be exemption for food processing workers and health care workers assisting with the coronavirus fight.

The administration says the effort is a way to free up jobs in an economy reeling from the coronavirus but business groups unsuccessfully pressed to limit the changes.