
Woman Puts Trump's Qualifications Into His Points-Based Immigration System—It Didn't Go Well
By Brian SkellengerNov. 18 2019, Updated 2:26 p.m. ET
It's no secret that Donald Trump has been keen on cracking down on immigration since the day he stepped into office.
So when Trump endorsed a bill that would cut down legal immigration by half earlier this week, it didn't come as much of a surprise.
The bill, called the RAISE Act, would institute a skills-based point system for entry, rewarding educated, English-speaking immigrants with high-salary job offers. The measure would also eliminate diversity visa lotteries, and maintains that immigrants who enter the country would be ineligible for welfare for a certain amount of time.
The new rules clearly favor certain immigrants over others. Given the rigorousness of the standards proposed, Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell wondered what would happen if the tables were turned.
Could Trump pass his own test? She set out to find the answer:
I ran Trump's qualifications through the points-based immigration system he endorsed. He would not get a green card https://t.co/1ZPniOmfIU
— Catherine Rampell (@crampell) August 4, 2017
Rampell's assessment, which is, of course, highly speculative, doesn't give Trump much of a chance.
In fact, according to Rampell, Trump would score a zero in several categories, including "Age," "Record of extraordinary achievement," "English-language ability," and "High-paying job offer," based on the sometimes ambiguous, sometimes absurdly-specific language of the bill.
Trump's final score: 18.
The minimum score to even be considered: 30.
Some could argue that Trump would score in the top 10% of the English-language test, which would garner him the 12 points needed to meet the threshold, but there would most likely be applicants who would score well over the 30 points, potentially knocking Trump off the list.
Twitter wasn't too shocked by the results:
If you believe he'd score in top 10% on TOEFL, he'd meet min requiremts. Prob still wd not have high enuf score to beat other applicants tho
— Catherine Rampell (@crampell) August 4, 2017
Nor, I expect, a GED.
— David Reiss M.D. (@DMRDynamics) August 4, 2017
He wouldn't qualify for an H-1 visa, either. Those are for specialty occupations. Being a con artist isn't a specialty occupation.
— lorraine (@lorrainztweetz) August 4, 2017
Perhaps it's not all bad news:
After we impeach him, let's revoke his citizenship!
— Ben Baader (@refusedone) August 4, 2017
Good! Can we deport him to Crapheadistan?
— John Kaminar (@jidk1187) August 4, 2017
Some believe Trump would probably find another way in:
He'd just corrupt someone and buy his Green Card. That kind of guy.
— COLIN ALSTON (@COLINALSTON1) August 4, 2017
Can't he just wave some cash in front of the Kushners?
— Lucyferloo (@lucyferloo) August 4, 2017
That is, unless:
Where is Marty McFly when you need him? Lol
— you_wish (@miro_emir) August 4, 2017
It would be fun to go back to the future 😂😂😂
#Trump ancestors were immigrants
— Pierre LaFontaine (@MedPierre) August 4, 2017
How different would America be today if they had been turned away?#AlternativeFacts #FakeNews #NoBanNoWall
Interesting.Wish that law was in effect 71 years ago. We would all be better off.
— Betty Tomek (@maggielib5) August 4, 2017
— Athena🙌🔥 (@Athena_1984) August 4, 2017
H/T: Twitter, Washington Post, Breitbart