On Thursday, President Trump offered a merit-based immigration plan that would give preferential treatment to high-skilled workers. As expected, the reaction to the plan fell along party lines.
According to the White House, Trump’s plan would “stop illegal immigration for good by fully securing our border, and establish a new legal immigration system that will protect American wages, promote American values, and attract the best and brightest talent from across the globe.”
“This plan was not developed by the politicians,” said Trump. “It was designed with significant input from our great law enforcement professionals.”
Few Arizona politicos offered an opinion of the president’s plan:
The President @realDonaldTrump has a bold, intuitive plan to revise our immigration system & properly staff & fund border security. This plan has support of @Arizona_DPS State & @sherifflamb1 County Law Enforcement officials. Cartels run the drug & human trafficking at the border pic.twitter.com/FiBZeQfSCV
— Col. Frank Milstead (@frank_milstead) May 16, 2019
Earlier today, I had the opportunity to go to the @WhiteHouse to hear @POTUS @realDonaldTrump roll out his plan to secure the border and reform America’s immigration system. I’m encouraged that the president is emphasizing border security. Let’s get it done. #AZ05 pic.twitter.com/xpZ2iaSFUn
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) May 16, 2019
Listening to @POTUS @realDonaldTrump at the @WhiteHouse. Congress must join the president to immediately secure the border and close the asylum loopholes that illegal aliens and cartels are exploiting 24/7. pic.twitter.com/YAwGw1i33G
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) May 16, 2019
The crisis on our southern border is not sustainable. I applaud @realDonaldTrump’s plan to take back control of border and update our outdated immigration laws.
— Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS (@RepGosar) May 16, 2019
Trump’s immigration proposal is dead on arrival.
— Ruben Gallego (@RepRubenGallego) May 16, 2019
This is exactly the type of plan we can expect: half-baked solutions that fail to promote a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients and address the backlog of asylum seekers. Our immigration system must reflect our values, not Trump’s xenophobia. https://t.co/d3FKTndLq0
— Raul M. Grijalva (@RepRaulGrijalva) May 16, 2019
Just a quick reminder that we are still fighting the Drug Cartels and the the Border Crisis. We need to stop the drug trafficking and human trafficking coming into our Country. #endthebordercrisis
.
.#stophumantrafficking #stopdrugtrafficking #protectamerica @WhiteHouse pic.twitter.com/UtenQJ45Ws— Mark Lamb (@sherifflamb1) May 16, 2019