Immigration Reform News 2017: Trump Challenges Congress to Create Bill on 'Merit-Based' Immigration
While the legislative branch is preoccupied with healthcare and tax reform measures, lawmakers are now also faced with the possibility of reviving efforts to pass immigration reform.
Talks of reforming the United States' immigration policies gained ground in January when President Donald Trump encouraged a number of lawmakers to come up with their own immigration reform bill.
The issue was raised again last week when Trump mentioned immigration reform during his speech before a joint session of Congress. The president challenged Congress to pursue bipartisan immigration reform, claiming that the path to reform is to overhaul the current legal immigration system and transform it toward a "merit-based" approach.
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For half a century, U.S. immigration laws have favored family reunification and allowed immigrants who gained legal permanent residence to bring their children, spouses, parents and siblings to the United States. As a result of this "chain migration" and influx of illegal immigrants, native-born Americans are forced to compete for low-wage, low-skilled jobs, according to critics.
With the merit-based approach, Trump aims to accomplish the goal of protecting American workers by reducing immigration levels and limiting the number of competitors. However, to those who oppose the president's ideas, the administration's pursuit of restrictionist policies could harm the U.S. economy, which relies on immigration for growth.
"Switching away from this current system of lower-skilled immigration and instead adopting a merit-based system will have many benefits," Trump told Congress, according to the Washington Examiner. "It will save countless dollars, raise workers' wages and help struggling families, including immigrant families, enter the middle class."
Trump said that "real and positive immigration reform is possible, as long as we focus on the following goals: to improve jobs and wages for Americans, to strengthen our nation's security, and to restore respect for our laws."
"If we are guided by the well-being of American citizens, then I believe Republicans and Democrats can work together to achieve an outcome that has eluded our country for decades," he added.
In the past, Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush were unsuccessful in enacting comprehensive immigration reform. Bills such as the 2013 bipartisan bill "Gang of Eight" — which coupled border security with an avenue toward citizenship for the country's 11 million illegal immigrants — failed to pass because of Congress' conflicting views on how to deal with illegal immigrants already living in the United States.
