Politicians and pundits across the D.C. Beltway are reacting to the Trump Administration's new 70-point immigration reform plan, unveiled earlier this week. The proposal includes President Trump's border wall with Mexico, a crackdown on sanctuary cities, and an end to chain migration, among other items. So far, the plan is garnering mixed reviews, with predictable reactions from Democrats like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who blasted the Trump proposal. Meantime, the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates against illegal immigration, has praised the plan.
But some are taking a more nuanced look at the Trump proposal. Peter Morici, columnist and economics professor at the University of Maryland, has a new column out praising many parts of the Trump plan and its underlying goals. In particular, Morici believes the U.S. currently takes in too many poor, low-skilled immigrants. "The (immigrants) near the bottom compete with ordinary folks who are already stressed by imports...and we probably don't need them coming in in such numbers," he tells KTRH. "Countries like Australia and Canada allocate their immigration resources--the number of people they can accept--toward highly skilled people who can add to their economy. I'm suggesting we do the same."
Specifically, Morici supports the Trump plan's shift from a family-based immigration system to a more economic-based one. "What I like is the emphasis on skilled labor immigration, and on moving away from chain migration, where a family member brings in an uncle, and then he brings in a cousin who brings in another uncle and so forth," he says.
Morici is not on board with every aspect of the Trump plan. "I'm not big on the wall," he says. "There are better ways to close the border than building a wall." He also understands why Democrats will fight the Trump plan or any attempt to seal up the border. "Democrats are basically using (the current system) to grow their voter rolls in the long run."