Trump’s plan does the opposite.
Instead of making it easier for low-skilled, low-income-seeking immigrants to be granted admission into the country, it places higher-skilled foreigners in the front of the shortened line.
“At the end of the day, why do special interests want to bring in more low-skill workers?” said Stephen Miller, the president’s policy advisor, in a White House press briefing this week.
One similarity between Trump’s new legislation and Rubio’s four years ago was the preference for English proficiency.
“On the day we announced the principles that would shape the immigration bill, we made it clear that English proficiency would now be required for permanent residency for the first time in American history,” Rubio said in 2013.
Two other GOP senators who had previously supported Rubio’s old legislation were quick to decry the Raise Act.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) takes issue with the drastic cuts to legal immigration and the establishment of a merit system because it “incentivizes more illegal immigration.” Sen. Jeff Flake comes at it from the marketplace perspective, suggesting in a statement that this legislation is not “responsive to the needs of our economy.”
