Primarily rewarding the educated and well-off with green cards reduces to a form of economic transaction our process of converting foreigners into citizens. It is not designed to cultivate the sense of belonging and motivation for civic learning and participation that would support our form of government into the future. Don’t we want something more from a new American? https://apple.news/ApcgPFkcKRLWXmVUqBQwTJw I do want new immigrants to possess a particular set of skills: I want them to understand how this country’s complicated past shapes its present, to participate actively in their government as citizens who not only exercise their rights but also fight to protect the rights of others, and — most importantly for me — to believe in America’s civic ideals of equality and liberty for all people. Faith in these ideas — interpreted in different ways by different people — is how we’ve come this far as a country. Today’s proposals risk taking us down an altogether foreign path.
As the Republican Party has moved to the right, especially on issues like immigration, Asian American voters are increasingly aligning themselves with Democrats. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/5/13/18308137/asian-american-voters-immigration-democrats-donald-trump