A new US immigration plan being worked on by the Trump administration could increase the number of visas awarded to highly skilled workers each year.
A new merit-based immigration proposal is currently being put together by White House senior adviser Jared Kushner. The plan is due to be presented to President Trump next week, who will then decide whether to adopt it as his official position or send the proposal back for changes.
Many US leaders have asked that the number of highly skilled visas be raised to attract more employees from abroad for specialised jobs amid a booming U.S. economy. Trump himself has talked of the need to bring in more skilled workers.
Sources close to the White House say that the new immigration plan would either leave the number of highly skilled visas each year at the same level or raise it slightly.
The idea behind the proposal is to turn the visa program into a more merit-based system. President Trump has long been an advocate of implementing a points-test similar to the one used in Australia to determine an applicant’s eligibility.
However, the sources suggest the proposals will not address ways to protect young people who came to the United States illegally as children. Such immigrants had previously been protected by former President Barack Obama in the 2014 program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
Democrats, whose support the White House would need to advance any kind of immigration legislation through Congress, have insisted that the DACA recipients be protected.
Article published 25th April 2019