Jared Kushner’s Legal Immigration Scheme is Dead…. For Now

  |  
Feb 17, 2020

For now, it looks like any expansion of legal immigration is dead in the water at the federal level.

Twitter user Columbia Bugle tweeted, “Sounds like Kushner’s Immigration Plan is going nowhere. The proposed legislation ‘doesn’t reduce the overall numbers of immigrants or make E-verify mandatory. We need an immigration system that works for American Workers, this doesn’t appear to be.”

POLITICO reported that Trump’s immigration plan, which he released in 2019, is now floundering.

Some even believe that it won’t go anywhere.

Many immigration patriots have criticized Trump’s immigration proposal for being too soft on mass migration and lacking focus.

“The substance is flawed because it doesn’t address the most important reforms that the president’s supporters want to see,” declared Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, one of the leading immigration restrictionist groups in America. “The strategy is flawed because they are trying to do too many things.”

According to a White House official, Trump will be spending the next few months trying to push for immigration reform now that the impeachment drama is no longer gobbling up his time.

Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and the brains behind this immigration plan, firmly believes that this plan can move forward.

“Before you go to battle, you have to do preparation,” Kushner said during an interview with POLITICO on February 14, 2020. “We have done the heavy lifting, the hard prep work. So if the Hill develops an appetite to move forward on an immigration deal, we will be ready. Ultimately, the president will consult with the leadership on the Hill and then decide, do we release the plan now, or do we put it out after the election.”

A White House official claims the bill has already gained the support of 22 GOP senators, which includes Mike Lee of Utah and David Perdue of Georgia, and believes it will end up receiving the support from nearly all 53 Republican senators. However, other individuals involved with the negotiations don’t necessarily believe those numbers.

“It’s a super hard problem, but our job is to try and tackle hard problems,“ Kushner stated. “It’s easy to say what hasn’t been done can’t be done, and so often the media declare the president’s agenda items to be impossible — like it did with [United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement], the China trade deal, criminal justice reform or building a wall. But time and time again the president proves them wrong.”

Trump mentioned this legislation during his recent State of the Union address.

“We are working on legislation to replace our outdated and randomized immigration system with one based on merit, welcoming those who follow the rules, contribute to our economy, support themselves financially, and uphold our values,” Trump said.

Trump’s proposal would allow more high-skilled, well-educated immigrants to enter the country. On the other hand, the plan would reduce the number of people who enter the country using family connections or if their native country has low migration rates.

It also features measures that tighten up border security, which includes stricter visa screenings at ports of entry and tighter asylum rules, while also expanding the implementation of E-Verify, an electronic system that enables businesses to verify the work status of their employees. The plan would reassemble the Department of Homeland Security and establish an immigration czar.

Chris Chmielenski, deputy director at NumbersUSA, another organization pushing for patriotic immigration reform, said his group still has misgivings about Trump’s legislative reform because it doesn’t reduce the total number of immigrants or establish an E-Verify mandate.

“Democrats and Republicans are opposed. I don’t think some people in the White House fully understood they would be,” Chmielenski stated. “It’s more difficult of an issue than they thought.”

Over a million immigrants are allowed to enter the United States annually on a permanent basis. However, only 140,000 of those immigrants entered through employment categories. The rest of the migrants are relatives, refugees, or individuals from countries with low rates of immigration to America. The numbers don’t include temporary or seasonal workers.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, revealed that Kushner also called him seeking his support. However, Krikorian said he rejected Kushner’s outreach,  informing Kushner he couldn’t support a plan that doesn’t involve a wholesale reduction in migration.

All in all, immigration reform remains dormant in D.C.

The good news is that there are no new expansions in overall migration.

Should Trump win re-election and Republicans take the house, real immigration reforms like establishing E-Verify, repealing birthright citizenship, and ending chain migration must be on the table.

Trump’s second term should put immigration as priority #1.

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