The Trump administration announced that it will release an immigration reform plan that will shift the emphasis from accepting people because they already have family in the U.S. to a “merit point system.”

It would give priority to those who have skills or education useful to our economy, are proficient in English, already have job offers or plan to invest and create jobs here.

It would also end the much-criticized “visa lottery” that hands out U.S. visas by random chance.

Click here to read more about the proposal.

Naturally, Democrats, who since Trump’s election have fought tooth and toenail against every attempt to secure the border or reform immigration laws, attacked and rejected Trump’s plan before even seeing it.

TRENDING: Kentucky AG Exposes 4 Lies the Left Sold About Breonna Taylor's Death

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who once pretended to think Trump was slandering all Mexicans as rapists and drug dealers when he was specifically talking about MS-13 gang members, pretended to be baffled by the very idea of “merit” as a criterion for accepting immigrants.

She demanded, “Are they saying family is without merit? Are they saying most of the people who’ve ever come to the United States in the history of our country are without merit because they don’t have an engineering degree?”

Pretty sure nobody is saying that.

I think they’re saying that it would be better for America to screen immigrants to choose those who will contribute to our society rather than those who have little to no education and will become a burden on the welfare system.

You know, like pretty much every other nation on earth does.

(Incidentally, it’s been pointed out that if the Dems care so much about the family connection immigrants, they could keep them at about the same level by shifting the “visa lottery” openings to family connection applicants. Problem solved.

Except I suspect the goal of all this outraged talk is precisely to avoid solving the immigration problem.)

I can certainly understand how Speaker Pelosi, being in charge of the gallery of knaves and fools currently comprising the Democratic House membership, would be unclear on the meaning of the word “merit” (I’m sure she knows what “condescending” means) or even hostile to the very concept.

But that doesn’t mean we should apply the same low standards to selecting our immigrants that we do to selecting our Congress members.

The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.