Rep. Jayapal: New Trump immigration plan ‘dead on arrival’

Washington Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal spoke out against President Trump’s recently-announced immigration plan Thursday, labeling it “doomed.”

RELATED: ‘Medicare for All’ bill introduced by Rep. Jayapal
RELATED: Let’s make a deal on health care and immigration

“The White House plan is no plan at all,” Rep. Jayapal said in a news release.

The president’s plan — led by his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner — has been met with opposition from both sides of the aisle. Sources speaking to CNN noted that Republican senators were “underwhelmed” when first presented with it. On Wednesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham said that “the White House’s plan is not designed to become law.”

Trump’s proposed system would replace existing green cards with “Build America” visas, enacting a points-based system. Points would be assigned for younger workers, anyone with “a valuable skill,” or immigrants with “a plan to create jobs,” among a handful of other possible conditions.

Additionally, migrants would be required to learn English and pass a civics test.

“This plan is dead on arrival,” Rep. Jayapal said. “The actions of this Administration continue to undermine and vilify immigrants to this country.”

For Jayapal and Democrats, there’s a litany of objections, including the exclusion of Dreamers, a lack of a clear path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and few (if any) measures to address a sizable backlog of immigration cases.

“In 2017, there was an unprecedented backlog of 2.3 MILLION USCIS [United States Citizen and Immigration Services] cases,” Jayapal Tweeted out early Thursday morning.

“This is totally outrageous,” she added.

To that end, Jayapal joined 80 other lawmakers in Congress last Friday, calling for investigation into what she labels a “record-breaking backlog of immigration cases.”

Follow @http://twitter.com/Mynorthwest