Jared Kushner's new plan on US immigration raises eyebrows

Washington D.C. [USA], May 3 (ANI): The proposal to reform the US immigration system by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law and senior advisor to United States President Donald Trump, has garnered concerns by activists and anti-immigration groups, who claim that the proposal does not address the all-encompassing approach of border issues and worry that it will include changes to laws designed to protect migrant children.
CNN quoted Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that supports reduced immigration, as saying, "If we want to implement something that's going to work, it needs to be done in the proper sequence. The urgent problem needs to be taken care of first," apparently referring to the southern border, which has seen a dramatic increase in the number of people apprehended by the US Border Patrol.
"Our top concerns are that the proposal will try to bite off more than reasonably can be chewed," she added.
Last week, during an interview at the Time 100 Summit, Kushner said he was putting together "a really detailed proposal" to reform the US immigration system, but did not reveal any of the components of his proposal. He added that he and his team will be presenting the latest version of their proposal to Trump who will likely offer changes.
"The President asked me to work on this topic," Kushner said.
"This isn't one of the topics that I came to Washington to work on," he was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, a senior administration official recently told CNN that Kushner will focus on border security and legal immigration.
The border security section would include constructing physical barriers where needed and modernising ports of entry in the north, south and on the coasts, so that every person, vehicle and cargo container is scanned to prevent anything illegal from coming into the country, and that trade is facilitated more quickly.
This proposal would protect rights and respect due process while also preserving the right to detain, adjudicate and remove any individual if need be, especially people trying to circumvent the legal system, the official said.
The second part of the proposal asks what legal immigration should look like. With 185 different kinds of visas, the system right now is easy to game. This proposal would for now keep the level of immigration at the same level it is currently, and work toward a merit-based system based on the Canadian, Australian and New Zealand systems, the official added.
For months, Trump has been talking about the urgent need for a wall to protect against what he calls "an invasion" of illegal immigrants flooding across the southwestern border with Mexico. But he has also been delivering another message claiming, "We need workers," The New York Times quoted Trump while addressing a group of activists earlier in March.
In other words, he wants more immigrants.
"I want people to come into our country, in the largest numbers ever, but they have to come in legally," Trump ad-libbed last month during his State of the Union address.
Such comments from the President has further triggered condemnation from anti-immigrant supporters who accuse him of caving to demands for cheap foreign labour from corporations and big donors while abandoning his election promise to protect his working-class supporters from the effects of globalism. (ANI)