US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he is working on an executive order to establish a ‘merit-based immigration system.’ Earlier, in an attempt to reform the immigration system of the United States, he had banned H1-B visas till December.

What is a merit-based immigration system?

Under ‘Merit-based’ immigration, the skills of an individual would be the parameter to decide if they shall be permitted to immigrate. This would mean applicants who have desirable skills for the market will be given preference over the others.

Jared Kushner, Trump’s senior adviser was the one who suggested the initiative. Backing this proposal, Donald Trump had said that he is in the pursuit of creating a “fair, modern, and lawful system of immigration.”

The plan that would use a point system will be replacing the family-based immigration rules of the United States.

How does a point-based system work?

The point-based system would consider different factors like proficiency in English, skills and education of the individuals.

Outlining the new system in a major policy address at White House, Trump said, “You will get more points for being a younger worker, meaning you will contribute more to our social safety net. You will get more points for having a valuable skill, an offer of employment, an advanced education or a plan to create jobs.”

Thus, the total number of green cards given in a year would not change but the proportion of skilled workers in the allocation would see a rise.

What would change?

According to the data released by the Department of Homeland Security, in the fiscal year 2017, a total of 66 percent of individuals got visa approvals through family sponsorship. On the other hand, 12 percent got the status through employment-based category, 16 percent received a visa on humanitarian grounds and 5 percent got it through the diversity category.

However, with the new proposal, 57 percent of immigration would be skill-based, 33 percent through family sponsorship and 10 percent would be on humanitarian grounds and the diversity category has been eliminated.

Are there other countries with a merit-based immigration system?

Canada and Australia are two other countries that use the point-based system of immigration. Canada considers factors like age, language skills, work experience, adaptability, education among others.

Why are human rights advocates concerned?

White House had earlier clarified that only 10% of all Green Card recipients would be given Green Cards on humanitarian grounds.

Human rights advocates feel that the system would end up being preferential favouring the privileged. Expressing its concerns about the new policy, the human rights group Amnesty International had said that this system would shut the door towards asylum seekers.