President Trump has endorsed a proposed immigration reform called the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment Act – the RAISE Act for short. While the bill is unlikely to pass in its current form, 90.7’s economic analyst Hank Fishkind says it spotlights important economic issues within the contentious U.S. immigration debate.
Under the current system, about one million people are allowed to legally enter the U.S. with a green card allowing adults to live and work in the country. Preference is now given to family members.
The RAISE Act would shift to a merit-based system, and aim to reduce the number of legal immigrants by 50 percent over the next 10 years. 90.7's Nicole Darden Creston starts the conversation by asking Hank if he thinks that 50 percent reduction would be good economic policy.
Click the "Play Audio" button above to hear his frank answer.
How would you fare if you were trying to immigrate to the U.S. under the new "merit-based" immigration bill? Answer these questions from TIME.
