The administration of US President Donald Trump is considering a temporary ban on American citizens and legal permanent residents suspected of being exposed to the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease from returning to the United States from abroad, The New York Times reported on Monday.
The new resolution would reportedly cancel earlier regulations that allowed the two categories to return to the country during the border closure prompted by the coronavirus pandemic. The new proposed regulation allows authorities to deny entry to both US citizens and legal residents, in case an official “reasonably believes that the individual either may have been exposed to or is infected with the communicable disease.”
US federal agencies have been requested by the Trump administration to offer feedback on the draft regulation to the White House by a Tuesday deadline, according to the newspaper. It has not been made clear whether the proposal will be approved by the administration or when it would be announced.
The documents, partially obtained by the outlet, stated that American citizens and legal permanent residents could not be blocked as an entire class of people, adding that a ban must “include appropriate protections to ensure that no Constitutional rights are infringed.”
The draft regulation, which did not point out for how long the two categories would be denied entrance to the US, highlighted that the prohibition would apply “only in the rarest of circumstances,” and “when required in the interest of public health, and be limited in duration.”
The modified rule is expected to be applied at all US airports and land borders, particularly at the US-Mexico border, which has witnessed frequent movement by US citizens and legal permanent residents, according to The Times.
The documents cited the death of the health minister of the Mexican state of Chihuahua, Dr. Jesus Grajeda, two weeks after contracting the coronavirus disease in late July, as a concern for the pandemic in the neighboring country.
The order comes as the United States witnesses an ongoing resurgence in COVID-19 cases.
As of Monday, there are a minimum of 5.08 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the US, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The US COVID-19 death toll stands at over 163,400. The United States has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and fatalities in the world.