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Kushner plan keeps legal immigration levels neutral

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the biggest effect because one officer can sit in county jail and process 12 illegal aliens a day," Homan, who served under President Trump, told Hill.TV hosts Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton earlier this week. "We used to have full presence in Los Angeles County Jail. We used to have full presence at Rikers Island," he continued. "New York City, the site of the most horrific terrorist attacks this country ever saw, at the hands of some that were in the country illegally." "So we lost any efficiency because one agent can sit there and process 12 illegal aliens in jail in a shift, but when that jail no longer works for you, they're going to release that person back into the community," he said, referring to officials in sanctuary cities who do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities. "Now you've got to send a whole team. First to locate them, people that don't want to be found, you've got to find them. Two, once you find them, it takes a lot of resources to arrest them," he said. "Again, it's an administrative process, so it takes a lot of planning," he said. "It slows us down." Reports surfaced earlier this month that President Trump is interested in sending immigrants apprehended at the border to the sanctuary cities in an effort to punish Democrats for their immigration policies. The Trump administration has also been embroiled in legal battles over the municipalities. A panel of federal judges earlier this month denied the Trump administration's request to block California from carrying out some "sanctuary city" laws that would protect certain immigrants without legal status in the state." station="" title="" feed="" title_visible="true" html_embed="true" no_pr="false" disable_muted_autoplay="false" expect_preroll="true" json_feed="" class="" /]

Presidential advisor Jared Kushner’s sweeping immigration plan, which received President Trump’s approval Tuesday, will not effect the overall level of legal immigration, a senior administration official told reporters.  

Trump met with several GOP senators Tuesday for a listening session on the plan to solicit feedback. The broad outlines of the plan entail asking for increased border security infrastructure and changing over to a merit based legal immigration system. The border security infrastructure would primarily apply to fortifying legal ports of entry and interdict illegal drugs. 

Speaking to a small group of reporters at the White House, the official stressed that the change to a merit-based immigration system would not affect the overall number of legal immigrants permitted into the country but would instead affect the composition. The move is intended to lower the number of legal immigrants permitted to the U.S. who compete with lower-wage workers for jobs. The plan does not address the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and is not intended to be an immediate fix to the ongoing rise in asylum claims at the U.S. southern border. 

Rather, the proposal was developed alongside the White House council of economic advisors to increase wages overall for U.S. workers and stimulate the economy. Part of the impetus behind its development was to change the perception of Republicans on the immigration issue, a person familiar with the developments said, noting that Republicans wanted the GOP to appear virtuous and welcoming to immigrants rather than perpetually angry. 

“President Donald J. Trump met with Republican Senators for an important and productive conversation on our Nation’s immigration policy. The President and Senators discussed a potential plan that would secure the border, protect and raise wages for the American worker, and move toward a merit based immigration system,” White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said in a statement after Trump’s meeting. 

The official expressed optimism that the proposal will accepted on Capitol Hill. A person familiar with the meeting noted that at least four senators expressed optimism about the bill after learning its details. The plan will not be officially made public as the White House solicits feedback but has advanced significantly with the presidential seal of approval. 

– Saagar Enjeti

 

 

 

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