President Trump’s immigration plan ends family migration

During his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, President Donald Trump discussed the four pillars of his immigration proposal including an end to family-based migration, ending the green card lottery, increasing border control and creating a path to citizenship for Dreamers.

Trump is says he wants to agree to a bipartisan bill, but the two parties have not been able to find common ground. The first plan given to Trump only provided funding for the wall for a year, and he turned it down. Arizona State University Law Professor Angela Banks thinks the Democrats will draw the line at ending family migration.

“Family-based migration has been sort of the backbone of the American immigration system,” Banks says. “At this point of time 60 percent of immigrants come based on family relationships.”

Trump says he will be protecting the nuclear family by ending what he calls chain migration. An American citizen will be able to bring over their spouse and minor children and that’s it.

The green card lottery is for individuals who are from countries that don’t have a lot of immigrants in America. It’s also known as the diversity visa as it attempts to broaden the diversity in the country. Trump plans on replacing this with a merit-based system. Those who can show they are educated and have a set of skills will be able to apply for a green card.