Wealth Test for the Immigrants- Trump’s most adverse Policy till date

Trump administration has proposed a new rule, according to which immigrants will be weighed on the basis of their income levels and only this weight will determine whether they are eligible to apply for a green card or not. The objective behind implementing such policy is to ensure that the immigrants don’t become a burden on American Taxpayers and the legal migrants.  Let’s see how Wealth Test for the Immigrants- Trump’s most adverse Policy till date?

With this rule in processing the risk of visa rejection will increase-

According to the Federal Register, the rule suggests that the immigrants whose household income is at least 250% of the federal guidelines will be eligible, for instance, a married couple without children has to make at least $41,150 in a year to get Green Card. If any such kind of rule is enacted, the scope for rejection of visas will be widened.

Immigrants are also not able to meet the current requirements of earning income above 125% of federal poverty guidelines hence, earning beyond that is not a feasible dream which results in the reduction in the number of immigrants in the country.

The policy is hard on the married couples-

According to a survey conducted by company- Boundless Immigration, the rule will have adverse effects on those seeking green card through marriage as almost 200,000 couples per year face a split in the entire US.

Atrocious and Elitist Policy

The rule which is the Wealth Test for the Immigrants- Trump’s most adverse Policy till date is being criticized in almost all parts of the world and according to center for American Progress, such elitist and discriminatory test will give unlimited discretion to the government officials.

The rule is in the drafting stage and the administration has only 60 days to reconsider before implementing it and the prediction of the result is quite easy due to the negative behavioral pattern of Trump in the past.

Instead of receiving so much criticism government is defending the policy-

Though the rule has faced a harsh backlash from everyone yet the administration supports their decision by portraying it as a “public charge” to benefit the American taxpayers. DHS has asked the immigrants to show valid proofs of them being deprived of any public benefits. As per the rule, an immigrant wouldn’t necessarily be denied a visa on the basis of low income alone as it’s not implied that immigrants belonging to high-income groups will get the visa, the condition of income above 250% of the federal poverty line is considered to be strong influencing factor for the visa permission seekers.

Loopholes in the policy drafted by the Government-

There are some loopholes as well in the rule, for instance, immigrants who are not able to maintain a stable income level of 125% of the federal poverty line can use their private household assets to depict his financial stability; though there is slightly a scope that the immigration officer might or might not consider this sensible.

Currently, only H-1B visa holders were facing problems due to Trump’s policies as the work permits for skilled workers were being denied due to the stricter regime but with the advent of such weighing policy, it is feared that the family-sponsored immigrants will be under the purview and might face harsh atrocities.

Leaving a very less probability of leniency behind, it is expected that Trump’s Administration will fail in implementing its regulatory process to achieve a bunkum dream. Hence it is proved that the Wealth Test for the Immigrants- Trump’s most adverse Policy till date.

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Diksha Garg

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