TRUMP PROPOSES IMMIGRATION OVERHAUL
Instantly protested plan could chop legal entries into USA in half
President Trump’s speech from the White House on Wednesday lasted only three minutes, but in that brief time, he proposed a complete overhaul of the U.S. immigration system that would fundamentally alter the way the nation decides who gets to become an American and who gets left out.
The proposal drew swift rebukes from immigrants, Democrats and even Republicans who said their states’ economies would be destroyed by a plan that could end up cutting legal immigration in half.
Trump has made illegal immigration a central component of his presidential campaign and his first six months in office, railing against undocumented immigrants and mobilizing his Department of Homeland Security to ramp up deportations. Wednesday marked Trump’s first attempt to fully articulate his views on what the nation’s legal immigration system should look like.
Taking its cues from immigration systems in Canada and Australia, the system proposed by Trump would end the longheld practice of U.S. citizens sponsoring their parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins and adult children for green cards. Americans would be allowed to bring in only their spouses and minor children, ending “chain migration” that has been a target of immigration hard-liners for years.
In its place, the United States would introduce a “meritbased” system that grades would-be immigrants on their potential contributions to the economy. Points would be awarded for Ph.D.s, English proficiency and work history. The higher the score, the more
Americans would be allowed to bring in only their spouses and minor children, ending “chain migration” that has been a target of immigration hard-liners for years.
likely an applicant would be to enter the country.
The new system would end the Diversity Visa program, which grants 50,000 green cards a year to foreigners from countries that are underrepresented in the USA, most of them from Africa, Asia and eastern Europe.
The proposal, contained in a bill introduced by Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and David Perdue of Georgia, would switch the United States from a primarily family-based immigration system to one based on economics. The bill would slash the total number of immigrants allowed into the country. A version of the bill filed by Cotton in February proposed a 50% reduction from the 1.1 million documented permanent residents admitted to the USA last year.
The end result would be a complete reversal of America’s immigration priorities. About 63% of green cards are awarded based on family ties. Trump’s proposal would flip that around to resemble Canada, which grants about 63% of its green cards based on the economic points system.
Trump said the new system would help out-of-work Americans who often compete with low-skilled immigrants who will work for lower wages.
“This legislation demonstrates our compassion for struggling American families who deserve an immigration system that puts their needs first and that puts America first,” Trump said.
Yet the workers Trump said he’s trying to help would be hurt the most by the proposal, critics of the plan said. Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, a group that advocates for immigrants, said the American economy has always relied on a steady stream of high-tech and lower-skilled foreign workers to fill glaring gaps in the country’s labor force. Both groups, he said, create and improve American businesses, which leads to more jobs for Americans.
“It’s really easy for us to talk about this in these broad, macroeconomic ways. But this has an incredibly harmful effect on the individual American worker and their family,” Noorani said. “By keeping talent out of the country, jobs will stay out of the country, and Americans lose. There’s nothing abstract about that.”
Members of Congress echoed those economic concerns and lamented what the president’s proposal means for the identity of the USA.
“The Trump, Cotton, Perdue bill is rooted in the same antiimmigrant, xenophobic and isolationist rhetoric that was a cornerstone of the Trump campaign,” read a statement from Democratic Reps. John Conyers of Michigan and Zoe Lofgren of California. “This bill would have us turn our back on America’s history as a nation of immigrants and the very thing that makes us both a great power and economically resilient.”
The focus on high-skilled immigrants runs contrary to the actions of the Trump administration.
Shortly after taking office, Trump announced a programwide review of the H-1B visa program that brings in high-skilled foreign workers trained in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Trump said the program was abused by technology companies as they imported cheaper foreign workers to replace U.S. tech workers.
Two weeks ago, Trump’s Department of Homeland Security announced it would create 15,000 additional H-2B visas designed for low-skilled workers, including those who work in retail, construction, restaurants, hotels and resorts, including those run by the Trump Organization.
White House senior adviser Stephen Miller said Wednesday that the Trump Organization would not stop using low-skilled foreign workers until federal law is changed and all businesses play by the same rules.