The USCIS director pushed for immigration system sans lottery program and reduced extended-family migration.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director L. Francis Cissna said on Friday that the US immigration system has flaws that need to be addressed to secure the country.
“Unfortunately, two parts of our current immigration system work directly against this goal: the diversity visa program, also known as the “visa lottery” program; and the current extended family-based immigration system, which allows immigrants to sponsor not just their own spouse and minor children, but a variety of extended family members, including even siblings and their spouses and children,”Cissna wrote in an opinion piece in The Hill.
The official said people should be invited to the country for immigration based on their skills. “Our immigration system is failing. In order to effectively protect United States citizens and promote their interests, we must pursue an immigration policy that recruits the best and brightest to our country,” Cissna said. “When considering who to invite into our country as immigrants, our nation should focus on people’s merit: their skills, education and what they can contribute. Not luck or lotteries.”
Referring to the immigration system followed by Canada, England, and Australia, the director said other countries have already adopted a point-based system. “We need to end extended family chain-migration that favors low-skilled or no-skilled immigrants, and instead establish a point-based system for merit-based immigration,” he said. “The system would take into account an immigrant’s skills, education, ability to speak English, and other factors that favor successful assimilation and significant contribution to our country and our economy.”
Cissna praised Trump’s approach to introducing changes to the existing system and suggested that Congress should work together to fix immigration laws. “I urge Congress to revisit its previous bipartisan willingness to terminate the diversity visa program and trim back extended family immigration,” he said.