Trump Supports Bill That Would Cut Legal Immigration by Half
Source: New York Times
WASHINGTON President Trump embraced legislation on Wednesday that would cut legal immigration to the United States in half within a decade by sharply curtailing the ability of American citizens and legal residents to bring family members into the country.
Arguing that the United States has taken in too many low-skilled immigrants for too long, Mr. Trump invited two Republican senators to the White House to put his weight behind their bill that would judge applicants for legal residency on the basis of education, language ability and job abilities that would benefit the country.
This competitive application process will favor applicants who can speak English, financially support themselves and their families and demonstrate skills that will contribute to our economy, Mr. Trump said.
This legislation, he added, will not only restore our competitive edge in the 21st century, but it will restore the sacred bonds of trust between America and its citizens. This legislation demonstrates our compassion for struggling American families who deserve an immigration system that puts their needs first and that puts America first.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/us/politics/trump-immigration.html
During the announcement, the senators said their bill is meant to emulate merit-based systems in Canada and Australia.
That's pure BS. Canada doesn't put language restrictions or preferences on immigrants, and their immigration policy is much more open. Canada is a country of 36,000,000 people, they had about 260,000 immigrants in 2016. The US is a country of 330 million people, this bill would limit immigration to 500,000. That's more than 4 times the rate this bill proposes.
Jim__
(14,077 posts)George II
(67,782 posts)kimbutgar
(21,164 posts)NEither one brought any demonstrable skills outside of being a maid and running a whore house after running away from being a draft dodger in Germany.
George II
(67,782 posts)...that had dozens of Polish immigrant employees that came to the US in the 1960s. They became highly skilled factory workers and performed skilled jobs that could only be learned through years of experience on the job. As of the late 1990s about 20 of them still didn't speak English.
Under this law, they would never have been admitted into the country.
dubyadiprecession
(5,716 posts)For every white or black person who leaves, they usually hire hispanics to take their place.
OKNancy
(41,832 posts)I sure hope that is correct
Cryptoad
(8,254 posts)when Alabama tried its self deportation law, a Republican Farmer near Cullman had his whole sweet tater crop rot in field for lack of crop workers. When he hired the good-Ole white boz, none would work past noon before quitting.
I smell another rotting sweet tater in the GOP future!
TexasBushwhacker
(20,204 posts)Americans aren't lining up for seasonal jobs, doing back breaking work in the hot sun. Of course there would be some Americans would do it if the pay made it worth their while, but we don't want to pay $6 for a pound of tomatoes.
Personally, I'm more concerned about skilled immigrant workers coming here and taking jobs from Americans.