February 02, 2018
From the article:
President Donald Trump spent much of his first State of the Union speech focusing on his controversial immigration proposal, which would slash legal immigration by at least 44 percent in exchange for extending a path to citizenship to about 1.8 million immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.
...Additionally, Trump’s description in his address of the visa lottery program — alleging that it is “a program that randomly hands out green cards without any regard for skill, merit, or the safety of our people” — is misleading in multiple ways.
First, the program requires that applicants show either educational achievement or work-experience in order to gain admission. Those entering the visa lottery must have “at least a high school education or its equivalent or, within the past five years, have two years of work experience in an occupation requiring at least two years training or experience,” according to State Department regulations.
In fact, a new study by the Center for Global Development found that Trump’s immigration plan would reduce the average level of education among immigrants admitted to the United States.
“For example, about 41 percent of immigrants in the New Immigrant Survey who acquired permanent residency through the Diversity Visa have a university degree or more, and the reforms seek to eliminate this visa,” the study said.