House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is attacking the president’s immigration proposal and she didn’t mind taking a swipe at his wife and the first lady’s family.
President Trump recently proposed an immigration plan which would include changing from a family-based system to merit-based immigration, which would value and prefer skilled workers and people who speak English.
Speaking to a crowd at the Commonwealth Club of California event on Wednesday, Nancy Pelosi questioned if the first lady Melania and her parents could have become American citizens if Trump’s merit-based system were in place.
“I don’t know if merit counted for when his wife’s family came into the country,” Nancy Pelosi stated. “I don’t know. Maybe it did. God bless them if it did. But he calls that ‘chain migration,’ which he wants to get rid of.”
As the first lady’s immigration lawyer previously told The Hill, she was born in Slovenia and her parents became American citizens after “years” of processing, then garnering the citizenship through the family-based system.
“Should we attach a green card to the diploma of so many scientists and engineers and all the rest and graduate students who train in the U.S. so that they can stay here?” Nancy Pelosi continued.
“Of course. But that’s not the point. The point is that the president does not share the view of even Ronald Reagan and two Bushes in recent history.” She added.
While Nancy Pelosi slammed President Trump’s merit-based immigration proposal, Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw stated that it’s the “right move” because “[…] we should favor higher-skilled workers and give them a leg-up over simple family ties, which is what our current system is.”
The President is expected to offer a “very dramatic” statement on Thursday or the next day on immigration and the current situation on our southern border amid the border crisis as migrant apprehension numbers soar.
