C5 · Pillar C · Growth Acceleration
Skills-based legal immigration
Narrow modernization of employment-based legal pathways: per-country cap reform, STEM-graduate retention, and a points-based supplement. Version 2 operationalizes the points architecture through D9’s Canadian CRS-style scoring, backlog clearance, and family-reunification track. C5 aggregate scoring is unchanged.
- 10-year fiscal
- +$350B revenueRevenue
- Implementation
- Years 1–5
- Middle class
- Neutral to positive
- Planetary
- Neutral
$200B–$500B · Medium confidence
High-skill inflows are associated with higher complementary domestic wages.
No material climate effect.
Global precedent
Canada Express Entry (2015); Australia’s 2023 Migration Strategy; UK Global Talent Visa.
Lead mechanism
DHS (USCIS); Department of State; Senate and House Judiciary.
Bipartisan framing
Conservative case
Competitiveness, critical workforce gaps, and preference for legal high-skill pathways.
Progressive case
Evidence-based modernization of employment-based categories.
Figures in this framework are illustrative directional estimates derived from publicly available data and conventional Congressional Budget Office budget-window logic. They are not official CBO scores. Any provision adopted from this framework would require formal CBO scoring before legislative consideration. This document is a policy white paper, not an introduced bill.