US President Donald Trump speaks during a Coronavirus Task Force press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on Sunday. Photo: AFP

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the White House will halt the immigration of green card recipients for 60 days while continuing to allow temporary workers on nonimmigrant visas to enter the country.

"I will be issuing a temporary suspension of immigration into the United States," Trump said at the White House briefing, citing coronavirus outbreak and jobs shortage.

"By pausing, we'll help put unemployed Americans first in line for jobs. It would be wrong to be replacing them with new immigrant labor flown in from abroad," said the U.S. president.

Seasonal farm laborers would not be affected by the measures, Trump added.

Trump said that attorneys were still working through the final details of the executive order. "We'll most likely sign it tomorrow."

The order would mark an extraordinary use of executive power by Trump, who has imposed travel restrictions on a group of nations and regions -- measures that have led to chaos abroad and at U.S. airports.

During his presidency, Trump has maintained a hardline stance on immigration and border security, and pushed for a series of controversial measures, including erecting a border wall along the nation's southern border with Mexico in a bid to deter illegal immigrants.