Trump's Bigly Lie that He'll Make America's Immigration System More Merit-Based Like Canada's
He has launched a two-front assault on high-skilled foreign talent
Debunking Trump's steady stream of bigly lies on immigration is a full time job.
One such lie is that the immigration reforms he is demanding in exchange for handing citizenship to Dreamers will make America's
system more "merit based," like Canada's. But I note in my column at The Week, this is like saying that kneecapping someone will make them a better sprinter.
If Trump were serious about this goal, he would:
radically streamline the immigration process for high-skilled immigrants. He could skip the H-1B stage altogether and hand green cards to them directly, just as Canada does. Or at least "staple" greencards to the diplomas of foreign students graduating from American universities (as Mitt Romney once proposed) or to the job offers of foreigners. Or increase the annual quota of H-1Bs. Or scrap the per-country annual limit on green cards. Or at minimum give the unused green card quota of one country to others like India and China that send more talent to America.
Instead, Trump has launched a two-front assault on high-skilled immigrants. He wants to pass laws to cut off the future stream of high-skilled workers and he is using his regulatory powers to make it difficult for those already here to stay.
The administration's motive here is clear: Make life so uncertain and miserable for foreign tech workers that they'll think twice before opting to come to America—and the red tape so time-consuming and costly for employers that they would think twice before hiring them.
Go here to read the whole thing.