Georgia Republican Senator, David Perdue, wants fewer low-skilled immigrant workers to be allowed to come to the US, telling a conservative radio program recently that such people inevitably compete with low-skilled, low-end American workers. He is not alone in his views, with Senator James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, also wanting to see immigration rules tightened. Lankford, though, favors allowing the undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers, brought to the US as minors, to gain citizenship, albeit under strict rules.
With immigration now in the hands of Congress, some Republicans want to see the fate of Dreamers linked to stricter immigration requirements, which are less to do with sentiment or family ties, and more to do with merit.
Perdue believes that any deal reached to try to save the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, initially created via executive action by President Barack Obama in 2012, should be connected to an agreement to slash legal immigration by as much as 50 percent and increase the likelihood that immigrants will be well educated and fluent in the English language.
Critics, including many economists, believe that such a proposal would cost jobs and hurt the US economy, with Democrats and immigration advocates also damning the ideas as too harsh. President Donald Trump has declared his openness to enter negotiations with Congress to resolve the DACA problem before the program ends next March, but he also wants any such deal to include stricter immigration measures.