PHOENIX β Gov. Doug Ducey criticized the new Trump administration policy that seeks to deny green cards to those at the bottom of the economic ladder.
βIβm someone who thinks we need a balanced approach,β the governor said Tuesday when asked about the new plan that would deny permanent legal status β known as green cards β to people in this country legally if it is determined they are likely to use government programs like food stamps and subsidized housing.
That would be determined on a variety of factors ranging from income to the ability to speak English. And the rule would apply on the basis of the chance of needing benefits, not whether anyone actually is receiving them.
The governor, speaking to reporters after a ceremonial bill signing, also questioned the wisdom of the recent raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on workplaces looking for those who are in this country illegally.
βIβd like to see us prioritize criminals, drug cartels, human traffickers, child sex traffickers,β he said. βI think that would be the best use of federal law enforcement and state and local law enforcement.β
In discussing the issue of who would be able to get permanent resident status under the new rules, Ducey said this country needs more than those who already are financially sound.
βItβs not only people at the graduate level and the Ph.D. level who we need,β the governor said. βWe also need entry-level workers and people who can work in the service economy.β
He said the employment situation in Arizona proves his point.
βWeβve got more jobs available than we have people to fill them,β Ducey said. βIt canβt just be about people at the top.β
The governor said itβs about opportunity.
βI want to see people who will climb the economic ladder,β he said. βI think many of us have a family story similar to that.β
That, said Ducey, goes back to his preference for a more balanced approach to immigration than the Trump plan envisions.
βWe have the βhavesβ and the βsoon-to-haves,β β he said. βAnd both of them are part of proper immigration reform.β
The ability of immigrants to support themselves has always been a part of the consideration when determining if someone who enters this country legally should be granted permanent legal status. But the proposal by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, scheduled to be published formally Wednesday, Aug. 14, uses income as a much stronger indicator of whether the applicant is likely to become a burden and, therefore, ineligible.
One section says that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services βwill generally consider 250% of the federal poverty guidelines to be a heavily weighted positive factor in the totality of the circumstances.β In essence, that suggests anyone above that level β $64,375 for a family of four β will have little problem qualifying.
At the other end, it says the absolute minimum income for even being considered will be in the neighborhood of half that much.
βMore specifically, if the alien has income below that level, it will generally be a heavily weighted negative factor in the totality of the circumstances,β the proposal states.
The proposal states that it is βrationally related to the governmentβs interest in ensuring that aliens entering the United States or seeking to settle here permanently are not likely to become public charges.β
βThe regulation minimized the incentive of aliens to immigrate to the United States because of the availability of public benefits and promotes the self-sufficiency of aliens within the United States,β the proposed rule states.
Duceyβs comments on priorities in enforcement of immigration laws follow raids last week at seven food processing plants in Mississippi where 680 workers were picked up by ICE in what was thought to be the largest one-day sweep in U.S. history.
βLetβs prioritize,β the governor said.
He said there were βsome bad guys in the mixβ of those who were picked up in the raids.
βBut I want to see our assets being deployed properly and in an even-handed way,β he said.
Ducey also questioned whether the government should be going after the owners of the companies that hire people suspected of being in this country illegally.
On one hand, Arizona law requires the use of the federal E-Verify system to determine an applicantβs immigration status, though there is no penalty for failing to use it. But the Attorney Generalβs Office said that companies that do not use the system are ineligible to receive government contracts or economic development incentives.
βBut at the same time I donβt know that an employer has to be an expert in immigration law,β Ducey said.
βIf somebody wants to work, you should have the ability to hire them,β the governor continued, saying he βcan be open-mindedβ to laws about employment as part of the way to solve the problem of illegal immigration.
