Merit-Based Immigration System And How It Works

Name Tutor Course Date Merit-Based Immigration INTRODUCTION The proposal by President Trump concerning a shift towards a merit-based immigration system has significant advantages towards the nation as a whole. In the previous decades, the immigration system of the U.S has been mainly based entry on family ties while providing preferences to individuals with relatives that are citizens (Alvarez 1-3). However, President Trump’s first address focused on a proposal of moving further away from this policy and creating an immigration system that would mainly prioritize in highly skilled immigrants. The paper will analyze the Merit-based immigration system and how it works. It will also discuss the benefits and consequences associated with this system. ANALYSIS OF MERIT-BASED IMMIGRATION Numerous immigrants that are admitted to the United States are typically granted entry on the basis of their family ties. Less than a fifth are typically admitted through the preferences of their jobs and also in a similar fashion, a small number of these people come into the country through asylum and refugee programs (Davis 7-9). The United States can sponsor immediate family member, parents and spouses for visas that are not subjected to any caps. Their siblings and adult children under the current system can get preferences under the program that focuses on providing a specific number of visas yearly to the relatives of citizens (Davis 7-9). Legal permanent residents and also citizens that have green cards have been allowed to apply for visas for their children and spouses. HOW MERIT-BASED SYSTEMS WORK The president did not indicate the manner that the government would create a suitable framework for this system. He provided an example of the Canadian merit system whereby immigrants are granted points in accordance with their employment and educational backgrounds, their level of language proficiency and also financial means (Davis 10-12). The highest scores based on these assessments will get a high priority regarding admissions. The points system was a component of the 2007 immigration proposal that was not developed further than the Senate. Under this measure, employment characteristics such as education and skills would mainly account for more points compared to family relationships. Therefore, immigrants that had a family member that lived in the United States legally either as permanent residents or citizens, would have seen their visa preferences strictly restricted or ended permanently. However, employment-based visas would have increased significantly (Davis 10-12). In this measure, temporary workers would have been prevented from bringing their family members to the U.S unless they accepted temporary visas and also could confirm that they would not become mainly dependent on benefits from the government. The main focus of the president is financial self-sufficiency for immigrants which were highly favorable if it was successful (Davis 14). This proposal in association with the White House Plan would significantly cut the number of legal immigrants by up to forty-four percent or five hundred thousand immigrants yearly. This is the largest policy-driven legal immigration cut since the 1920s.When compared to the current laws based on immigration, the plan would exclude almost twenty-two million individuals from the chance of legally immigrating to the U.S over the next fifty years. FAMILY-BASED IMMIGRATION There have been debates concerning which and the number of immigrants that can be welcomed in the United States, which has led to the United States government in developing a clear contrast between immigrants with merit and those that have family connections (Wides-Muñoz 1). The first group includes skilled individuals that want to work, that would contribute towards the society and those that will love and respect the United States. The second category as the administration claims is comprised of low skilled workers that place downward pressure on wages and increase the deficit of the budget while fueling terrorism and gang violence. When the family-based immigration is framed in this manner, it is clear that the United States should restrict chain migration whereby United States citizens and green-card holders can sponsor relatives living abroad to come to the United States as well (Wides-Muñoz 2). However, the assertion that immigrants that have family ties in the U.S do not have skills and will not contribute towards the labor force of the country is among the several misconceptions that have influenced immigration in the United States. One issue mainly arises from the manner that the U.S administration defines skills. President Trump intends on allowing more immigrants with advanced degrees to have high paying jobs lined up for them. The president is clearly right to prioritize such a concept. However, it can be noted that almost half of the immigrants that come to the U.S through family and numerous diversity visa programs hold graduate or college degrees, which makes them better educated than the average United States-born American (Wides-Muñoz 3-4). While the United States could clearly utilize more brilliant internet specialists and medical practitioners, it also has numerous other needs. Some of the rapid developing job sectors are in home healthcare, construction and the food service sector, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. These industries employ a large number of immigrants (Wides-Muñoz 6-7). Whether immigrants are teachers or engineers, their success is typically fueled by support from family. Community networks need...