US looking at NZ style immigration system

USA Today reports:

Canada’s immigration system, which President Trump praised Tuesday night, has served as a model for countries around the world because it focuses more on immigrants who can contribute to the economy than those with little more than family ties.

About 63% of those granted legal permanent residence in Canada — the final step before becoming citizens — are admitted for their economic skills, with only 24% admitted based on having family members living in the country. The U.S. system is reversed: 63% of green cards are given to immigrants with family connections, and only 13% given based on economic reasons.

Canada was also the first country to use a point system to grade economic immigrants — a 100-point scale that rewards foreigners with PhDs and extensive work experience in specialized fields.

During Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress, he praised the system used by Canada, Australia and “many other nations” during a portion of his speech that called for reforming an “outdated” legal immigration system that hurts American workers.

“Switching away from this current system of lower-skilled immigration, and instead adopting a merit-based system, will have many benefits,” Trump said. “It will save countless dollars, raise workers’ wages, and help struggling families — including immigrant families — enter the middle class.”

This is also the system NZ uses, and is a far better system than the current US green card system. Much of the focus is on illegal immigration, but they also have issues with legal immigration. Immigration done well is a huge benefit to a country, but it should be based on the skills, education, wealth, employability etc of the immigrants.