After years of setbacks and stalemates, President Donald Trump will lay out yet another immigration plan as he tries to convince the American public and lawmakers that the nation’s legal immigration system should be overhauled.
The latest effort, spearheaded by Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, focuses on beefing up border security and rethinking the green card system so that it would favor people with high-level skills, degrees and job offers instead of relatives of those already in the country.
A shift to a more merit-based system prioritizing high-skilled workers would mark a dramatic departure from the nation’s largely family-based approach, which officials said gives roughly 66% of green cards to those with family ties and only 12% based on skills.
But the plan, which is set to be rolled out on Thursday but has yet to be embraced by Trump’s own party — let alone Democrats — faces an uphill battle in Congress. Larry speaks with experts in immigration law to debate the new policy.
With files from the Associated Press
Guests:
James Copland, senior fellow and director of legal policy at the right-leaning think tank, Manhattan Institute
Deep Gulasekaram, professor of law at Santa Clara University School of Law, where he specializes in constitutional and immigration law