The Trump administration is expanding its war on liberal immigration practices, targeting so-called “chain migration,” a costly loophole that allows a legal immigrant to bring in relatives even if they are unskilled and destined to go on welfare.







A package released by the White House found no benefits to the practice, and instead put a $300 billion annual cost on immigration, claimed that the overwhelming number of relatives let in do not have proper job skills and indicated that there is virtually no end to the “chain” that can be tapped to enter the U.S.

In fact, one of several charts distributed by the White House showed that a single immigrant could be responsible for getting another 120 into the U.S. — legally.

Over the last decade, said the White House, 9.3 million immigrants have come in via family ties, more than the populations of Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas and Cleveland combined.







Another chart showed that of all given temporary green card status, 65 percent come in because of family ties, not because they are needed in the workforce or are refugees.

And once in the U.S., the White House warned, many can both become a fiscal burden on taxpayers and eventually get voting rights.



“It’s time to end chain migration,” said the fact sheet. The bottom line from the White House:

Most green cards in the United States are awarded based on an antiquated system of family ties, not skill or merit. This system of chain migration – whereby one immigrant can bring in their entire extended families, who can bring in their families and so on – de-skills the labor force, puts downward pressure on wages, and increases the deficit. Chain migration also undermines national security, by failing to establish merit-based criteria for evaluating entrants into the United States – instead, familial relations are all that is required to obtain a green card and, in turn, become a voting U.S. citizen within a short period of time, with access to federal welfare and government benefits.

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com