New US Immigration Plan Prioritizes High Skilled Labour

Last week, the Trump administration released an outline of its proposed Immigration plan. This plan is to readdress which people are permitted into the country and how they come in. The plan’s main priority is high-skilled Labour and immigration based on merit. Although it is not sufficient or comprehensive, it is actually a good improvement over the former restrictive pushes. The Immigration plan is centralized on a merit-based system which is similar to that of Canada and Australia. It will increase immigration based on skills to 51% from 12% while reducing immigration based on family and lottery by 50%. This is considered splendid news for employers in need of high-skilled workers. For many years, the cap for green cards based on employment and H-1B visas for a few skilled workers has not been raised, but the workforce in the US has magnified by 38 million since the program began. The members were advised by Daniel Griswold during his testimony speech before the House Committee on Small Business, that the key to serving the growing economy better is by raising the number of high-skilled workers. He, however, suggested that the number of H-1B visas be increased to 195,000 while the green card based on employment be raised to 140,000. Other suggestions like exempting family members from the green card cap were also raised by him. Maintenance of the current immigration levels is the best feature the Trump’s administration plan has, though this may seem like a wrong approach given that more immigrants are needed, but it’s better than dividing legal immigration. According to Julian Simon, the great economist and professor, the ultimate resource is the people and with them are more brains put to work to bring greater successes. Calling for lower levels of immigration during this high economic boom with the lowest unemployment is stunning. In fact, the business community has continuously cried out on the difficulty of finding enough employees. It is noted that the president’s adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner is the master brain behind this plan.

Some shortcomings in the Immigration Plan

• Firstly, the legal immigration of low-skilled workers is not enhanced despite the fact that studies have shown that importing labor is beneficial.
• Also, the “Dreamers” issue is not resolved
• The present illegal population is not certain of legal and stable status.