Trump unveils plan to ‘transform’ America’s immigration system, focus on high-skilled workers
President Trump on Thursday unveiled a long-awaited immigration overhaul that would dramatically alter how the U.S. accepts people into the country, upending the system in order to favor admissions based on merit rather than family ties.
"If adopted, our plan will transform America's immigration system into the pride of our nation and the envy of the modern world," Trump said from the Rose Garden.
The proposal would judge immigrants with a points-based system that would favor high-skilled workers -- accounting for age, English proficiency, education and whether the applicant has a well-paying job offer.
Currently, only about 12 percent of immigrants are admitted based on employment and skills, while 66 percent are admitted based on family connections inside the U.S. Administration officials estimate that those numbers would flip to 57 and 33 percent, respectively, under the Trump plan.
Almost anything is better than what we have now. A focus on MERIT rather than relatives will serve the country better.
"If adopted, our plan will transform America's immigration system into the pride of our nation and the envy of the modern world," Trump said from the Rose Garden.
The proposal would judge immigrants with a points-based system that would favor high-skilled workers -- accounting for age, English proficiency, education and whether the applicant has a well-paying job offer.
Currently, only about 12 percent of immigrants are admitted based on employment and skills, while 66 percent are admitted based on family connections inside the U.S. Administration officials estimate that those numbers would flip to 57 and 33 percent, respectively, under the Trump plan.
Almost anything is better than what we have now. A focus on MERIT rather than relatives will serve the country better.
If this fact is true, that would be a good policy. It would be nice to see the source of this or reporting from a real news outlet on it.
I'm actually for liberalized immigration, moving toward opening things up to anyone who wants to travel. I see nation state borders as a vestige of another time that just slow things down.
What I really think is horrible and stupid, though, is looking the other way while 15 million people live in the country in the shadows as an underclass. Some people are indignant that President Trump is directing the gov't to enforce immigration laws. I don't blame him at all for enforcing the law. That's his job. As he says, Congress could make new law. IMHO they should. They should set something up to give these people are permit to be there, pay a fine if they've been breaking the law this far, and really enforce the laws against anyone being in here illegally or anyone doing business with people who are not supposed to be working here. It's totally reasonable for people to disagree with me and say Congress should limit the number of people who enter. It's unreasonable to keep looking the other way.