Although Democratic Leadership has declared Mr. Trump’s proposal “dead in the water,” the policy is deeply removed from the current political realities of the United States and its rhetorical implications are grave.
A Summary of President Trump’s Proposal
Despite a history of bipartisan support for legal immigration, the Trump administration ran on a platform which branded legal immigration as a threat to national security and a negative economic force. Through nine executive orders, Mr. Trump has worked to fulfil his campaign promises regarding restricted borders—but his proposal overshadows the rest in aiming to reconstruct US immigration entirely.
The President has only described this proposal in broad strokes, but for all intents and purposes it seems to mirror the RAISE act, which was proposed by Senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue, and details a reallocation of legal immigration quotas. The RAISE act proposed a points-based system for employment immigration which would replace the current mechanisms such as the H-1B. Points would be awarded based on high paying job offers, English testing, age, education, and past achievement. In addition to overhauling employment immigration, the RAISE act proposes that family immigration be cut in half to allow for a greater number of ‘highly skilled’ workers to enter the country. Under RAISE, employers could no longer sponsor immigrants—although job offers would provide points. Further, family sponsorship would be severely limited—only applying to spouses and children under 18.
Why is this ‘merit-based’ approach a bad idea?
Speaking in support of the merit-based proposal, Mr. Trump stated that 66% of legal immigration—in reference to family sponsored visas—is “random.” Further, he proposed that our current system “discriminates against genius,” and that the point system is “pro-American, pro-immigrant, and pro-worker.” Fox News headlines speak in support as well, stating that, “Trump Merit-Based Immigration could boost industry.” Further research however demonstrates that these claims are not simply misinformed—but explicitly incorrect. Like campaign claims made by the Trump administration in the 2016 election cycle—this immigration proposal is a rhetorical tool which is propped up by ambiguity and showmanship: “it is not a policy which is rooted or based in the economic realities of industry.”
Right Wing news outlets and Mr. Trump rhetorically focused on ‘highly skilled workers,’ but disregard the realities of the US labor shortage. While there are job openings for the professionals which the President’s proposal targets—predominately highly educated STEM field workers—there are far more blue-collar job vacancies to fill. For example, within the Houston Construction industry there are broad labor shortages that cannot be addressed by an immigration policy solely focused on the highly educated and qualified. In fact, family-based immigration is a large driver for immigrants who could fulfill these vacancies. Family immigration, besides being in line with American liberal values, is a free mechanism of immigrant integration and social service. Evidenced by successful immigration programs such as the H-4 EAD (link post here), employment immigrants are far more likely to remain in the states if their family is also in the country and allowed to work.
If Democrats have declared this “dead in the water,” why does it matter?
Even in the absence of any immigration legislation so far, the Trump administration has drastically changed the perception that potential immigrants have of the United States. Both legal and unauthorized immigration has declined since Mr. Trump took office on his anti-immigrant platform. If increased restrictions are a possibility in the US, why shouldn’t immigrants move elsewhere? The UK, Canada, and Australia are all liberalizing immigration policy. Against that competition, how can the US expect to inspire immigration of those with the most, as our President calls it, ‘merit’? As the US labor shortage rises and the global economy becomes more integrated, rhetoric such as Mr. Trump’s racially charged 2016 campaign and this “merit-based” immigration proposal can do nothing but hurt the United States.