On Monday President Donald Trump told a crowd in Ohio that the much-promised border wall was coming, and on Tuesday he took to his favorite platform to push Democrats to come to a deal on immigration. The president tweeted out about the need to end chain migration and move to a merit-based immigration system. He also pointed to a poll that shows the majority of Americans support his immigration plan.
We need a 21st century MERIT-BASED immigration system. Chain migration and the visa lottery are outdated programs that hurt our economic and national security. https://t.co/rP9Gtr2E5N
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 6, 2018
The tweet linked to a document on the White House website that details the national security threats posed by both chain migration and the visa lottery system, two things the president has promised to end as part of his four-point plan on immigration reform.
"Our current immigration system jeopardizes our national security and puts American communities at risk," the document reads.
The document also makes the case for moving to a merit-based system, similar to what Canada and Australia use, in order to determine if potential immigrants meet the needs of the United States. Current statistics show that as many as seven in ten immigrants arrive after being sponsored by a relative, meaning chain migration.
"Because most immigrants are selected on the basis of their family connections—rather than real selection criteria, like the skills they bring to our economy or their likelihood of assimilation into our society—our current family-based immigration system does not meet the needs of the modern United States economy and is incompatible with preserving our national security," the document states.
The document goes on to detail a number of people who have entered the country through either chain migration or the visa lottery system and were later involved in terrorist acts or financing.
The president's four pillars for immigration are securing the border which includes building a wall, ending chain migration and the visa lottery system, instituting a merit-based immigration system and allowing a path to citizenship for the so-called "Dreamers." While Democrats support the last pillar, they are wary of going near the other three.
Republicans are supportive of the first three and wary of a path to citizenship.
But a new poll (full results here) finds broad-based support for the president's plan among American voters. The poll, conducted by Harris between January 17-19, finds that while just 54% of Americans support "building a combination of physical and electronic barriers across the U.S.-Mexico border," a full 79% of voters say they believe there needs to be more border security.
On how America should choose its immigrants, 79% said they agreed with the statement that it, "Should be based on a person's ability to contribute to America," while 21% agree that it, "Should be based on a person having relatives in the U.S."
On the visa lottery, 68% said they opposed randomly choosing 50,000 people from around the world to enter the United States each year. That included 61% of those that voted for Hillary Clinton in the last election.
On the question of Dreamers, 77% of voters said they supported a path to citizenship including 64% of those who say they voted for President Trump in the last election.