Trump proposes a change in immigration policy

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"Pro American, pro immigrant and pro worker": this will be, according to Trump, the new immigration system of the United States

Trump's proposal, in terms of immigration policies, in accordance with his speech, seeks to support young people and workers who want to live in the United States, which would make true the American dream of many. However, the proposal has had detractors, because it is based on merits and legal immigration based on the family is ignored.

Leer en español: Trump propone un cambio en la política migratoria

This bill, which has not yet been approved and whose main speaker is Jared Kushner, Trump's adviser, seeks to focus on the change of residence permits for immigrants, the so-called Green Cards. This system would change with a focus on a point-based visa, so it would be based on merits to grant visas and residences. In these scores, different aspects such as level of studies, labor supply within the country, English level, among others, would be taken into account.

Regarding the number of visas that would be granted, they stated that the number would be approximately the same, but taking into account other parameters. Considering the new system, the priority would be students and professionals. Another of the new indications to have access to the residences will be a civility test.

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It sounds good, but …

In addition to this new residential system, which would focus on outstanding students, one of the main criticisms of the project has to do with the change of priority for access to residences. This, while focusing on merit, will leave out the benefit for people who have US or resident family members. The members of the American Association of Immigration Lawyers (AILA) are some of those who are against this decision because, according to Univision, "family-based immigration creates strong communities that foster an environment for the development of local businesses", so leaving it aside would be a mistake.

Nancy Pelosi said, according to El País, that the term 'merit' that Trump has used to explain the scoring system is just one way to "reduce the number of immigrants who legally arrive in the country to meet with their families" and labeled it as "condescending", as if the family had no merit.

Although, according to Trump, this new immigration system would point to being "pro-immigrant", the elimination of the visa lottery, the restriction of asylum requests and the increase in funds for the border, focused on the creation of the wall, are some of the proposals that show the 'zero tolerance' that the US government has regarding immigrants.

Regarding the request for asylum, Trump said that it should be restructured and limited, as in many cases the reasons why foreigners seek asylum should not be approved.

Similarly, the visa lottery has existed since 1990 and grants 50,000 annual visas for people from countries with small immigration rates to the United States. This lottery has been made with the intention of promoting diversity and its greatest beneficiaries, according to El Universal, have been people from African countries. However, since Trump is in office, he has tried to weaken and eliminate this system. In this last opportunity, he said that the system would be changed, although he did not specify the changes.

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Likewise, according to El Diario NY, at some moments of the presentation of the project, the advisors were not able to affirm with certainty about certain topics, which shows that the migratory concern is focusing on the non-tolerance of the issue. That being the case, the claim that he is 'pro-immigrant' could also be criticized, because in the project he mentioned the protection of American wages.

And the 'dreamers'?

Perhaps what most unleashed criticism was to exclude from the plan the so-called 'dreamers'. The proposed plan focused solely on the regulation of legal immigration, leaving out both young 'dreamers' and almost 11 million undocumented immigrants.

By leaving aside the beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) plan, which benefits those who arrived in the United States as children and protects them from deportation, one of the most important points regarding immigration issues is being omitted. The project began in the Obama administration in 2012 and protects around 800,000 young people, mostly from Mexico.

However, since Trump became president, the DACA program has been one of the most affected, with the deportation attempts the American government has made. Considering this, according to The Washington Post, the bill could fail in Congress, because the Democrats see it as a main point of discussion.

LatinAmerican Post | Juliana Suárez

Translated from "Trump propone un cambio en la política migratoria"