Poll of the Day > New proposed immigration policy favouring financially-stable English speakers.

(+) Yeah! (+)

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-immigration-policy-english-speakers-financial-stable-raise-act-tom-cotton-david-perdue-a7873711.html

President Donald Trump is touting new legislation to overhaul the US immigration system, drastically cutting the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country and implementing a "merit-based" visa scheme.

If passed, the RAISE Act would cut the number of immigrants allowed into the United States by 50 per cent over the next 10 years. It would eliminate diversity lottery visas and crack down on so-called "chain immigration" – visas provided based on family connections, rather than jobs skills.

Mr Trump promoted the act alongside Senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue on Wednesday, claiming it would "reduce poverty, increase wages, and save taxpayers billions and billions of dollars".

And it would do so, he said, by favouring English-speaking, financially stable immigrants.

"This competitive application system will favour applicants who can speak English, financially support themselves and their families, and demonstrate skills that can contribute to the US economy," Mr Trump said.

He added: "They’re not going to come in and just immediately collect welfare."

Under current US law, the majority of immigrants cannot receive food stamps, Medicaid, and Social Security until they have been in the US for at least five years.

Mr Cotton and Mr Perdue first introduced the RAISE Act to the Senate in February, but the legislation has since stalled in Congress. The Senators now plan to re-introduce it with a few changes – and the President's backing.

Mr Trump frequently spoke out against illegal immigration during his campaign, accusing immigrants of stealing jobs from American workers and bringing crime into the country. As President, he has pushed for the construction of a wall on the US-Mexico border, and implemented a travel ban on six Muslim-majority countries.

To Kamal Essaheb, director of policy and advocacy for the National Immigration Law Center, these policies are an attempt to shift the blame for Mr Trump's legislative failures onto the immigrant community.

"We’ve seen this during the campaign and we’re now seeing this, unfortunately, in his policies," Mr Essaheb told The Independent. "This is a President who has found his scapegoat."

Despite his harsh words about illegal immigrants, the RAISE Act marks Mr Trump's first significant attempt at reforming the legal immigration system – and the country's most dramatic attempt in more than 50 years.

In his remarks on Wednesday, Mr Trump decried the current immigration system as "unfair," saying it benefits new immigrants over "struggling American families". In an accompanying statement, the White House claimed that an influx of unskilled workers has depressed American wages and harmed working families.

Mr Essheb dismissed these claims as "simply untrue".

"All the evidence shows that immigration is not only good for the economy in terms of GDP growth, but also good for wages of Americans themselves," he said.

A 2010 report from the Economic Policy Institute, for example, found that immigration increased the wages of native-born workers by an almost half a percent between 1994 and 2007.

Last week, BuzzFeed News reported that Mr Trump's private, South Florida estate had requested permission to hire 70 foreign, low-wage workers. The Trump National Golf Club has also requested permission to hire six foreign cooks.

Defending his hiring practises last year, Mr Trump said it is "very, very hard" to find employees in Palm Beach during peak tourism seasons.

"We, sometimes, we have to bring people in," he said.

This should incentivize more people to come here illegally.

Those last few paragraphs :P
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Can't wait for Trumps book to come out, Los Kampf
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Excellent policy.
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lol that's ridiculous

It's a logical policy. Why wouldn't you want financially stable people who can speak the language? They should be a higher priority. Granted, the only downside is that it potentially hurts the middle class to bring in people who might someday take their spot, which is why we usually bring in dregs to hurt the low-income labor market.
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Zeus posted...

It's a logical policy. Why wouldn't you want financially stable people who can speak the language? They should be a higher priority.

No they shouldn't. There is no official language.

knivesX2004 posted...

Zeus posted...

It's a logical policy. Why wouldn't you want financially stable people who can speak the language? They should be a higher priority.

No they shouldn't. There is no official language.

If it's not the official language then why are all government documents written in it? Why is it the default for most legal correspondence? Why is it the default language in our schools? While you can argue some lame semantics about us not naming it the official language, it already is effectively the official language. It's the language people should be speaking when they come over here.
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Zeus posted...

If it's not the official language then why are all government documents written in it? Why is it the default for most legal correspondence? Why is it the default language in our schools? While you can argue some lame semantics about us not naming it the official language, it already is effectively the official language. It's the language people should be speaking when they come over here.

They're not. There's very clearly options for alternate languages on every single govt form I've ever filled out.

It is not the official language because it's not. I can argue all I want about that because there is no document, decree, law, or anything of the like stating so.

There's no consequences for not speaking English. Hell the very first fucking thing the framers wrote was you can say whatever you want.

knivesX2004 posted...

They're not. There's very clearly options for alternate languages on every single govt form I've ever filled out.

I must have missed the Spanish version of the ACA, Patriot Act, etc.

knivesX2004 posted...

It is not the official language because it's not. I can argue all I want about that because there is no document, decree, law, or anything of the like stating so.

It's the de facto language. When you come here, it's the language you should know. It's like moving to China while only speaking English. Sure, you might be able to get by, but it's a shitty experience.

knivesX2004 posted...

There's no consequences for not speaking English. Hell the very first fucking thing the framers wrote was you can say whatever you want.

There are no legal consequences for only knowing English in China, however it makes life a helluva lot harder for you.
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As it should be

I wish Canada would do this, we a actually have official languages to enforce.
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Absolutely wish the UK would do this. Everyone goes on about how our health service essentially runs on immigrants. I just graduated with a first class degree in biomedical science from a good university and can't get a job as a biomedical scientist because the field is horrendously oversaturated by immigrants who can essentially skip the hardest parts of state registration. The entire field won't take on uk graduates because they know if they select foreign candidates they won't have to take the time and money to train them for state registration.

I've literally just watched myself and a class of 90 other graduates, leave a STEM degree with £30,000+ of debt and no job prospects in the field thanks to uncontrolled immigration.
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Canada has a strict point-based system and things are going fine. America may as well be pickier. There's no shortage of warm bodies, so being choosy is good. My only complaint with Canada's rules being the lax attitude towards language competency.
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We used to have a similar system in the early 20th century until we threw open the doors to any barbarian who was just hunting monkeys for food a mere week ago. Our liberal immigration has nearly irreparably damaged this nation
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ChipChipperson posted...

We used to have a similar system in the early 20th century until we threw open the doors to any barbarian who was just hunting monkeys for food a mere week ago. Our liberal immigration has nearly irreparably damaged this nation

Pretty sure there is a statue that says something different

Kungfu Kenobi posted...

I wish Canada would do this, we a actually have official languages to enforce.

I'm almost positive Canada already does this, I was under the impression that Canada has an extremely strict immigration policy compared to the States.
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America is having the biggest identity crisis right now
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America is a conclusive failed experiment providing a definitive conclusion the multiculturalism hypothesis.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT7-Z44AITo
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Kungfu Kenobi posted...

I wish Canada would do this, we a actually have official languages to enforce.

I am pretty sure we already have that. I was a kid so I am not too sure of the procedures but I know my family lawyers were working to get my parents' proof of wealth and stuff and were calling my house all the time for like a month.
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A 2010 report from the Economic Policy Institute, for example, found that immigration increased the wages of native-born workers by an almost half a percent between 1994 and 2007.

I feel like I'm missing some kind of significant context here if this is supposed to be a supportive argument. Seriously, a half percent over 13 years?

Also I thought English became the US' official language during W. Bush's presidency. I'm not remembering wrong, I'm seeing numerous articles saying the Senate passed it back in 2006, what happened after that?
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Veedrock- posted...

I feel like I'm missing some kind of significant context here if this is supposed to be a supportive argument. Seriously, a half percent over 13 years?

It's not particularly significant, but it is a positive number. 0% would have supported the argument I'm guessing the passage is making (which is that the notion that immigration results in lower wages for natives). 0.5% is even better, even if it's not significant enough to be a pro-immigration argument. Just to shut down a common anti-immigration one.
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ChipChipperson posted...

threw open the doors to any barbarian who was just hunting monkeys for food a mere week ago

You totally don't sound ignorant and racist at all

DorkLink posted...

ChipChipperson posted...

threw open the doors to any barbarian who was just hunting monkeys for food a mere week ago

You totally don't sound ignorant and racist at all

He doesn't? I thought he kind of did.
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He's the type of guy that probably doesn't realize they have internet in Africa now

I have internet but given the chance I'd hunt some monkeys for food.
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DorkLink posted...

He's the type of guy that probably doesn't realize they have internet in Africa now

Google Fiber? If not, they're savages.

VeeVees posted...

I have internet but given the chance I'd hunt some monkeys for food.

I've heard monkeys are delicious, so this seems an appropriate choice.
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FYI, if some of these immigrants are coming to the U.S. because U.S. foreign policy has destabilized their own countries (e.g., with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq), it might be right to let those people in even if they don't have the appropriate skills. Of course, that applies to immigrants to anywhere, not just to the U.S.

KevinceKostner posted...

Pretty sure there is a statue that says something different

And I am pretty sure that Gustave Eiffel imagined the statue for the Suez Canal instead, but due to disputes over in Egypt, gave it to us in return.

Also, why should we get "Your poor, your impoverished, your hungry"? It only weakens us.

It should only be "Give me your best". If your country has gone to shit, and dirt poor, illiterate, and completely uneducated,, you have nothing to blame but yourselves. Go fix your own goddamned country. No free pass to this one.

TheWorstPoster posted...

Also, why should we get "Your poor, your impoverished, your hungry"? It only weakens us.

lol
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Zeus posted...

I must have missed the Spanish version of the ACA, Patriot Act, etc.

Probably because you didn't ask for it.
I'm not arguing that NOT speaking English in America is good, or whatever, I'm just saying there's no Official Language.
Would knowing English give you a leg up? Absolutely but it's not an official language and it's not mandatory.
Trump can barely form complete sentences in English and he's President.

TheWorstPoster posted...

Also, why should we get "Your poor, your impoverished, your hungry"? It only weakens us.

What about your manchildren neets

Renzokukenexe posted...

Absolutely wish the UK would do this. Everyone goes on about how our health service essentially runs on immigrants. I just graduated with a first class degree in biomedical science from a good university and can't get a job as a biomedical scientist because the field is horrendously oversaturated by immigrants who can essentially skip the hardest parts of state registration. The entire field won't take on uk graduates because they know if they select foreign candidates they won't have to take the time and money to train them for state registration.

I've literally just watched myself and a class of 90 other graduates, leave a STEM degree with £30,000+ of debt and no job prospects in the field thanks to uncontrolled immigration.

Which is a massive problem in the US as well.

adjl posted...

Veedrock- posted...

I feel like I'm missing some kind of significant context here if this is supposed to be a supportive argument. Seriously, a half percent over 13 years?

It's not particularly significant, but it is a positive number. 0% would have supported the argument I'm guessing the passage is making (which is that the notion that immigration results in lower wages for natives). 0.5% is even better, even if it's not significant enough to be a pro-immigration argument. Just to shut down a common anti-immigration one.

Plus it's a sketchy claim in general that, at best, has a correlation rather than a causation.

knivesX2004 posted...

Zeus posted...

I must have missed the Spanish version of the ACA, Patriot Act, etc.

Probably because you didn't ask for it.
I'm not arguing that NOT speaking English in America is good, or whatever, I'm just saying there's no Official Language.
Would knowing English give you a leg up? Absolutely but it's not an official language and it's not mandatory.
Trump can barely form complete sentences in English and he's President.

And I'm just saying, official or not, they should speak the language.
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knivesX2004 posted...

Probably because you didn't ask for it.
I'm not arguing that NOT speaking English in America is good, or whatever, I'm just saying there's no Official Language.
Would knowing English give you a leg up? Absolutely but it's not an official language and it's not mandatory.
Trump can barely form complete sentences in English and he's President.

Oh please, stop being pedantic. It's the fucking official language. We don't need to pass a bill in congress to establish it because it's a de facto language.

Even fucking England doesn't call English it's official language. Why? Because it doesn't need to. It invented the shit.

*Pushes glasses up onto nose* Well ackshually english isn't the official language
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