“Senators working on a comprehensive immigration plan are quietly talking about letting people into the United States by giving more weight to potential job skills and less weight to family connections than now exists \u2013 a departure from the current system and one sure to rile immigrant advocates while pleasing business interests. The system would award points for a person\u2019s various characteristics, and it would place greater emphasis than the current system on future immigrants\u2019 ability to make long-term economic contributions. The senators hope to introduce a bill next month, but before they can, they have to come to an agreement on how to deal with the United States\u2019 future flow of immigrants,” Kansascity.com reports.<\/p>\n
“Immigration reform depends on a secure border. Nearly every lawmaker pushing reform, and certainly every Republican, stresses that the border must be proven secure before millions of currently illegal immigrants can be placed on a path to citizenship. But how do you measure border security? For years, the government estimated the number of miles of the border that were under “operational control” and came up with various ways to define what that meant,” says Byron York at the Examiner<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Then the Department of Homeland Security threw out the concept of operational control, which Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano called “archaic.” The administration promised to create something called the Border Condition Index, or BCI, which would be a “holistic,” and a far better measure of border security.”<\/p>\n “So imagine everyone’s surprise when Mark Borkowski, a top Homeland Security technology official, told Miller that not only was BCI not ready, but that it won’t measure border security and was never meant to.”<\/p>\n “In 2008, Mark Krikorian published an important new book arguing against permissive immigration. The book’s central idea: what has changed since Ellis Island days is not the immigrants; it’s the society they are immigrating to. In 1913, a Sicilian who migrated to New York City to do manual labor would discover a society willing to pay a high wage for his effort. In 2013 … not so. Yesterday’s New York Times reports on a new study confirming Krikorian’s insight,” says David Frum<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Other work has found Mexican-American educational deficiencies persisting into the fourth generation after migration. The United States is already evolving into a society much harsher and less hospitable for the less-skilled. Yet American elites seem determined to enlarge and perpetuate a problem they already don’t know how to solve: how to create economic opportunities for the least economically competitive half of the population.”<\/p>\n “They looked like any other family here in rural Michigan, but they are Dutch citizens. And they are faces of a fast-growing U.S. visa program in which foreigners can gain permanent residence by investing $500,000 in a U.S. project that creates at least 10 jobs. Through the program, known as EB-5, the Dekkers have a half-million-dollar stake in the Marriott Marquis Hotel rising in the District next to the Washington Convention Center,” the Washington Post writes<\/a>.<\/p>\n “The program has broad bipartisan support in Congress, and key senators who are negotiating an overhaul of the immigration system have said they are leaning toward expanding visa programs that provide an immediate boost to the economy. But others argue that the EB-5 program amounts to buying citizenship, and that it unfairly allows wealthy foreigners to cut the visa line ahead of others who have waited for years.”<\/p>\n “Most voters like finding a way for illegal immigrants to stay in this country but not until the border is secured. However, they remain skeptical about the federal government\u2019s interest in securing the border,” Rasmussen Report says<\/a>.<\/p>\n “The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 59% of Likely U.S. Voters favor a plan that would legalize the status of those here illegally if they have otherwise obeyed the law \u2013 provided the border is really secured to prevent future illegal immigration<\/strong>.” [emphasis added]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Senate Bill May Feature Points System “Senators working on a comprehensive immigration plan are quietly talking about letting people into the United States by giving more weight to potential job skills and less weight to family connections than now exists \u2013 a departure from the current system and one sure to rile immigrant advocates while<\/p>\nAmnesty Impoverishes America<\/h3>\n
Green Cards for Sale in Investor Visa Program<\/h3>\n
Poll Shows Most Want Border Security Before Immigration Deal<\/h3>\n