printMy Family would’ve not been allowed to immigrate to the US had we met Donald Trump’s new immigration criteria. These are:
* Establish reality on the ground (gritty, man!), illegally until amnestied.
* Obey all the other laws, except immigration and labor laws.
* Get a low-skills job, commensurate with meager abilities.
* Receive more in government reimbursements than you contribute to the economy over a lifetime—someone with few skills might work hard, but overall, his existence is subsidized by taxpayers throughout his lifetime.
No! If the principal in our family had been without that Extraordinary Abilities 0-1 Visa and had been unable to prove—via patents, work record and testimonials vetted à la the First World—that he had skills unique and needed in the US—we would not be here. We left so many good people behind, in South Africa, who’ll never be allowed to so much as farm (for example) in the US, because white, poor, Christian and without desirable college degrees. I know South Africans who’d gladly sell their farms in SA and come and work on farms in the US. They’re far more culturally compatible, but they’re not as politically cuddly as the cohort Trump is told to court. You know why.
Media are referencing a townhall with Sean Hannity to accuse Mr. Trump of pivoting in a new direction on immigration. Media might have a case. Via TIME:
… asked whether Trump would support changing the law to “accommodate those people that contribute to society, have been law-abiding, have kids here,” Trump replied in the affirmative.
“There certainly can be a softening because we’re not looking to hurt people,” Trump said. “We want people—we have some great people in this country.”
Trump, who has previously called for a “deportation force,” suggested he would not try to toughen the existing immigration statutes, calling the lawmaking process “brutal.”
“We want to follow the laws, you know, we have very strong laws in this country,” Trump said. “And you know Bush, and even Obama, sends people back. Now we can be more aggressive on that but we want to follow the laws. If you start going around trying to make new laws in this country it’s a process that’s brutal. We want to follow the laws of this country, and if we follow the laws we can do what we have to do.”
Trump’s new position appears to be an embrace of the status quo, in which those in the U.S. illegally with criminal histories are prioritized for deportation, but no action is taken to push forward with comprehensive reform. …