Trump recently signed an executive order and a proclamation in an attempt to return sanity to the U.S.’s immigration system.
First of all, he unveiled a long awaited "Gold Card" program that will fast track the visas for select immigrants who voluntarily give a hefty “financial gift to the Nation.” The program will be run by the Secretary of Commerce, and the amount for the “gift” for an individual on behalf of himself is $1 million. According to Forbes, other countries, such as Greece, Spain, Switzerland, and Italy, have their own versions of golden visas.
Trump is also imposing a $100,000 application fee for H1-B visas, which have been a pathway for U.S. employers to hire high-skilled foreigners. These immigrants work in specialty occupations, needing to at least have a bachelor’s degree in areas like engineering and medicine in order to work in the field. The visa is valid for three years and can be renewed for another three years.
Mark Krikorian is executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies. He says both measures are designed to improve the quality of the immigrants skill levels.
"Even though they don’t interact directly with each other, but I think the impulse is the same, to increase the benefit that immigrants would bring to the economy by weeding out the less skilled parts of immigration,” says Krikorian.
As CNN reported, Trump said, about the visa fee, that the U.S. needs workers and this fee will ensure that it will happen.
“It doesn't fix everything, but I think they are both animated by the same concern that we're getting way too many unskilled immigration poor people," states Krikorian.
