I will be voting against this bill because merit-based immigration betrays the foundations of this country. If this bill had been law in the 1960s, I would not exist today. This is not immigration reform, it's immigration regress. I encourage my colleagues to vote against this bill.
How is this regression and betraying the foundations of the country?
This is literally the same system that Atlasia's neighbours to the north (Canada) use; almost verbatim (in fact it might be slightly more permissive than Canada in terms of the points). Skills based immigration is also successfully used in many other countries like Australia or New Zealand; using similar systems to the one in this bill.
Finally the bill does keep a path to citizenship via family reunification.
I guess if you want to specify the situation of say, refugees; it is fine; I thought if anything the bill would keep the status quo in that area as of currently written.
Those countries have different histories and priorities than we do. Our entire history is enriched by waves of immigrants coming from various countries and continents. Our status as a global super power standing for democracy and individual rights necessitates we maintain an ability to compete with China economically and geopolitically. Limiting immigration threatens this nation in many ways. People who lack the skills outlined in this bill are still valuable contributing members of society and artificial boundaries limiting their opportunity isn't fair or beneficial.
Keep in mind, what this bill says is "you are lucky you were born here because if you weren't, we wouldn't want you". That's a horrible message to send.
I never thought I'd see an appeal to "Atlasian exceptionalism" when debating this bill
Anyways while Canada is a different country, its history is very similar to Atlasia, especially with regards to immigration, so I don't see why such a policy that works for Canadians would not work for Atlasia.
In terms of the actual number of immigrants coming in, the number is barely changed compared to the status quo (it's a very, very minor reduction and if you want it can be changed to the actual current number).
As for unskilled immigrants coming in, I think you vastly overestimate how easy it is for them to move to Atlasia. Here is a flowchart that partially inspired me to create this bill actually, and which I used for reference when writing it (alongside Canada's actual laws)
As you can see, an unskilled immigrant without family does not have any reasonable chance of coming in, and family reunification is kept.
Really the only ways for an unskilled immigrant to come to Atlasia is either being a refugee (which could be clarified in this bill, or treated as a separate category in a separate bill; or even just add that the status quo for them will hold); or though the immigrant diversity lottery.
You can argue that the lottery has
symbolic value; but it most certainly is a very small part of Atlasia's immigration system on the greater scheme of things.
In fact, this bill actually makes it
easier for the best and brightest around the world to come to Atlasia; as the job offer requirement would get lifted; making immigration for the kinds of immigrant the nation needs actually easier, not harder.
