Trump unveils plan for merit-based immigration system

MANDEL NGAN / AFP

US President Donald Trump unveiled a merit-based immigration plan that would favour high-skilled workers.

In an address at the White House, he proposed to restrict family-based migration.

"Our plan includes a sweeping modernisation of our dysfunctional legal immigration process. It is totally dysfunctional," the president told reporters on Thursday. 

Under the plan, which has not yet resulted in the drafting of any actual legislation, the number of visas awarded to the highly-skilled will be increased from 12 to 57 per cent.

He added that immigrants would be "required to learn English and to pass a civics exam prior to admission".

 

More from International News

  • US Senate passes Trump's tax-cut, spending bill; sends to House

    The Republican-controlled US Senate passed President Donald Trump's tax and spending bill on Tuesday, signing off on a massive package that would enshrine many of his top domestic priorities into law while adding $3.3 trillion to the national debt.

  • France shuts schools as heatwave grips Europe

    More than a thousand schools were closed in France on Tuesday and the top floor of the Eiffel Tower was shut to tourists as a severe heatwave continued to grip Europe, triggering health alerts across the region.

  • Blow for Thailand's government as court suspends PM from duty

    Thailand's Constitutional Court on Tuesday suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from duty pending a case seeking her dismissal, in a major setback for a government under fire on multiple fronts and fighting for its survival.

  • Trump signs order lifting sanctions on Syria, White House says

    President Donald Trump has signed an executive order terminating a US sanctions programme on Syria, allowing an end to the country's isolation from the international financial system and building on Washington's pledge to help it rebuild after a devastating civil war.