President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would announce new restrictions on visas within a couple of days to block the entry of certain foreign workers and protect Americans struggling with a job market devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’re going to be announcing something tomorrow or the next day on the visas,” he told Fox News Channel.

Asked if there would be exclusions from the new restrictions, Trump said very few.

The curbs are expected to cover H1-B visas, which are popular with Indian techies, and L-1 visas which are issued to executives working in a large corporation.

The US issues 85,000 Hi-B visas every year, of which 70 per cent of them goes to Indians.

The order is unlikely to affect those currently working in the US.

“You need them for big businesses where they have certain people that have been coming in for a long time, but very little exclusion and they’re pretty tight,” he said. “And we may even go very tight for a period of time.”

Trump, who has been expected to announce new restrictions, declined to provide further details.

Critics have said Trump looked set to use the pandemic to achieve his longstanding goal of limiting immigration into the United States. His tough stance on immigration is central to his pitch to voters as he runs for re-election.

Major American companies, particularly in the tech sector, have urged Trump to refrain from blocking the flow of foreign workers into the United States, saying it would hurt the economy.

The new action would be Trump’s latest step to restrict immigration in response to the pandemic and economic fallout.

In April, he ordered a temporary block on some foreigners from permanent residence in the United States.

He also announced new health-focused rules in March that allow for the rapid deportation of immigrants caught at the border and virtually cut off access to the US asylum system.

At the same time, he announced the land borders with Canada and Mexico would be closed to non-essential crossings, a measure that has been extended several times.

The details and scope of the plan remain unclear, and it is still a work in progress. But the coming order has elicited an extraordinary response from a diverse coalition that includes universities and sectors spanning manufacturing, technology and consulting, which have been inundating the White House with letters and phone calls.

“What is scaring so many different groups here is that the order is going to impact everyone,” said Shev Dalal-Dheini, director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Trump on April 22 signed an executive order that suspended for 60 days the issuance of green cards for applicants outside the country, describing it as protection for unemployed Americans amid the coronavirus pandemic.

But he stopped short of suspending visas and programmes that allow US employers to hire foreign workers.

Additional limitations on foreign skilled and seasonal workers are now in the works, said several people who have been communicating with the administration in an attempt to narrow the scope of the proposed new limitations. “What is being proposed is significant; we just don’t know how far it will go,” Ms. Dalal-Dheini said.

IT industry association Nasscom has sought exemption for technology workers from restrictions that may be imposed in the US, saying such staff is playing an essential role in keeping critical infrastructure operating in America.