President Trump accepts the proposal to cut immigration to the United States, supporters of the agenda looks to Australia and its "merit-based" system for approving new immigrants.
The plan Mr. Trump supports seeks to
reduce immigration by curbing the ability of American citizens and legal
residents to bring family members into the country. As Mr. Trump told Congress
earlier this year, “It is a basic principle that those seeking to enter a
country ought to be able to support themselves financially.”
That approach — making sure new
immigrants are not a burden on the country’s safety net and are able to prosper
financially — is at the core of Australia’s immigration laws.
Australia takes in more immigrants
relative to its population than the United States. The country has two distinct
systems: a points-based system, which favors people based on their English
proficiency and the skills they have to fill needed jobs, and an employer-nomination
system, which allows businesses to sponsor people for jobs.
A White House official said on
Wednesday that it had looked at both the Australian and Canadian immigration
systems and “added things that made sense for America.”
“One of the things I think is the
most compelling about the Australian system is the efforts to make sure that
immigrants are financially self-sufficient,” Stephen Miller, a senior White
House aide, said in discussing the plan with reporters Wednesday.
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Under the plan proposed by
Republican senators, applicants for legal residency in the United States would
be judged on the basis of education, language and job abilities, favoring those
who can speak English. They would be able to financially support themselves and
have skills that contribute to the economy. Currently, most legal immigrants
are admitted to the United States based on family ties to those already in the
country.
“We are establishing a new entry
system that’s points-based,” Mr. Miller said in explaining the Trump administration’s
approach. “Can they support themselves and their families financially? Doe they
have a skill that will add to the U.S. economy? Are they being paid a high
wage?”
Under the Australian system,
applicants get the most points — up to 60 — for having skills in needed areas,
and fewer points — up to 20 — for fluency in English. They are also awarded
points for their age group, with the 25-to-32 age range being most desirable,
and older people being less so. Applicants get up to 20 points for having a
doctorate from an Australian educational institution or its equivalent.
While the program seeks to attract
immigrants to fill occupations in areas where needed skills are in short
supply, some experts believe the approach has been largely ineffective.
“Australia has this image
internationally that our points-tested skill program is delivering a high
quality, skilled work force,” said Bob Birrell, president of the Australian Population
Research Institute. “I think that’s a myth. Our points-selected skilled
migration program is full of holes.”
Rather than favor people from
overseas who have significant work experience and skills considered important
in Australia, the points system has been watered down to favor foreigners who
have recently graduated from Australian universities, Mr. Birrell said.
“There’s no assessment as to whether
the skills that the applicant possesses are actually in demand here,” Mr.
Birrell continued.
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The program has also been criticized
as overly complex in its skills criteria and as inherently favoring white
applicants because of its language and educational requirements.
In promoting its approach Wednesday,
the Trump administration also cited Canada, which similarly uses a points-based
immigration system. Canada’s approach, however, does not merely favor
immigrants based on their skills but also uses a system that promotes a
multicultural society.
Like the United States, Australia
has been very welcoming of immigrants, with roughly 27 percent of its
population foreign-born, coming from more than 200 countries. It formalized the
points-based system in 1989 and has updated it several times, most recently in
2011.
Khanh Hoang, a lecturer at the
College of Law at Australian National University, wrote last year in The Conversation that
Australia’s points-based system failed to capture the nuances needed for hiring
the best and most desirable employees for key jobs.
“Some suggest a points test is a
crude measure that does not account for ‘soft’ attributes desired by employers
such as communications skills, the ability to learn on the job, or resilience,”
he wrote, adding that the system may not be nimble enough to adjust to the
country’s employment needs.
“This raises questions as to the
government’s ability to accurately project shortages in the labor market,
leading to underemployment or over-employment in some areas,” he wrote.
In April, Australia’s prime
minister, Malcolm Turnbull, proposed raising more barriers to citizenship,
with an “Australian values” test and a four-year wait for applicants.
The proposal came as he faced
domestic pressure on the immigration front, with Pauline Hanson, a senator
who has called for a ban on Muslim immigration, tapping into the frustrations
of voters who believe they are competing with immigrants for jobs or government
resources.
(source msn.com, edited by Increase Chisom)
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