Family
President Trump  made a case against what  he  calls âchain migrationâ during  his  State of the Union address. (Win McNamee/AFP/Getty Images)
In the debate over which and how many immigrants to welcome into the United States  the White House has set up a clear contrast between immigrants with âmeritâ and those with family connections. The first category incorporates âpeople who are skilled  who want to work  who will contribute to our society  and who will love and respect our country â as  President Trump  laid out in  his  State of the Union address. The second category  the administration claims  encompasses low-skilled workers who put downward pressure on wages and increase the budget deficit while fueling gang violence and terrorism.
Framed that way  it seems obvious that the United States should curtail what  Trump  calls âchain migration â in which U.S. citizens and green-card holders can sponsor family members living abroad to come here  too. Indeed  when the Harvard-Harris Poll asked registered voters last month  âDo you think immigration priority for those coming to the U.S. should be based on a personâs ability to contribute to America as measured by their education and skills or based on a person having relatives in the U.S.?â nearly 80 percent chose skills and education over blood.
One problem stems from how the administration defines skills.  Trump  wants more immigrants with advanced degrees who have high-paying jobs lined up for them. Those are good things  and  he âs right to prioritize them.
Much of the argument around brains vs. blood seems based on the assumption that we have too many immigrants and must drastically reduce the number. After all   Trumpâs proposal  doesnât include additional visas for merit but rather a reshuffling of the current ones.  It âs true that immigration is higher than itâs been in decades. Immigrants represent about 13.5 percent of the population  up from about 5 percent in 1970  and close to the rates of the 1920s. The annual growth rate in the foreign-born population is just over 2 percent.
[TGT] made a case against what   [TGT]   calls âchain migrationâ during   [TGT]   State of the Union address. (Win McNamee/AFP/Getty Images)
In the debate over which and how many immigrants to welcome into the United States  the White House has set up a clear contrast between immigrants with âmeritâ and those with family connections. The first category incorporates âpeople who are skilled  who want to work  who will contribute to our society  and who will love and respect our country â as   [TGT] laid out in   [TGT]   State of the Union address. The second category  the administration claims  encompasses low-skilled workers who put downward pressure on wages and increase the budget deficit while fueling gang violence and terrorism.
Framed that way  it seems obvious that the United States should curtail what   [TGT]   calls âchain migration â in which U.S. citizens and green-card holders can sponsor family members living abroad to come here  too. Indeed  when the Harvard-Harris Poll asked registered voters last month  âDo you think immigration priority for those coming to the U.S. should be based on a personâs ability to contribute to America as measured by their education and skills or based on a person having relatives in the U.S.?â nearly 80 percent chose skills and education over blood.
One problem stems from how the administration defines skills.   [TGT] wants more immigrants with advanced degrees who have high-paying jobs lined up for them. Those are good things  and   [TGT]  âs right to prioritize them.
Much of the argument around brains vs. blood seems based on the assumption that we have too many immigrants and must drastically reduce the number. After all   Trumpâs proposal  doesnât include additional visas for merit but rather a reshuffling of the current ones.  It âs true that immigration is higher than itâs been in decades. Immigrants represent about 13.5 percent of the population  up from about 5 percent in 1970  and close to the rates of the 1920s. The annual growth rate in the foreign-born population is just over 2 percent.