Deep Gulasekaram was quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle about Trump’s proposal to ban most migration to the U.S. for 60 days because of Covid-19

Deep Gulasekaram was quoted in a San Francisco Chronicle article about President Trump’s proposed ban on most migration to the U.S. for at least 60 days because of the coronavirus outbreak, even though Trump’s authority to limit immigration to the United States was bolstered by a 2018 Supreme Court ruling upholding his ban on U.S. entry from a group of mostly Muslim countries.

Trump is now claiming authority “to essentially disregard and rewrite immigration laws,” said Pratheepan Gulasekaram, an immigration law professor at Santa Clara University. While the high court’s 5-4 ruling upheld his travel ban on national-security grounds, Gulasekaram said, Trump is proposing to go much further now and will need justifications he hasn’t yet presented.

The administration has already closed the Mexican and Canadian borders and halted most immigration from elsewhere, while officials have also stopped processing everyday visa applications, Gulasekaram said. He also said the spread of the coronavirus has been “a domestic problem of contacts between people in the U.S.,” not an immigration problem.