Tweaking immigration norms

US President Donald Trump has a propensity to tread where others fear to go, and his latest move is to propose a new ‘Build America’ plan to change the country’s immigration norms that allow foreign immigrants to become permanent residents or Green Card holders. The present system focuses heavily on family ties, which account for two-thirds of all residency visas. Trump would like to attract highly skilled people like doctors, engineers, even entrepreneurs, who right now get a far smaller share of the pie. In his plan, the ratio would move from 12 per cent to 57 per cent. While skilled foreigners, especially Indians and Chinese, are likely to benefit from such criteria, the road ahead is long and pitted. 

It is notoriously difficult to find the required consensus for immigration reforms. Politicians from across the aisle soon criticised the President’s announcement. Bipartisan support, essential for such changes, will undoubtedly prove elusive. The President, while treading on a path taken by some Republican predecessors, is yet to drum up adequate support among his party legislators. There is a strong lobby for the blue-collar immigrant workers who are needed in sectors such as agriculture and construction. There is also the pressure of over 40 lakh individuals who are waiting legally for their Green Card, of which 36 lakh fall in the family reunification category. The leading countries of origin include Mexico, the Philippines, India, Vietnam and China. Interestingly, Indian tech workers stand to gain significantly under the new plan. 

Canada and other countries have used employability and higher education criteria for immigration. Naturally, each country has to make decisions based on its own requirements, and the US is a favoured destination for immigrants. It is a nation of immigrants, who have contributed tremendously to the richness of American life. Even as the process of tinkering with the system that allows them a permanent home in the land of their dreams begins, a wary eye would have to be kept for right-wing biases that have cast a shadow over the country that prides itself as the Land of the Free.