While many of President Donald Trump’s immigration comments are misinformed, he is not wrong when he points out that the current system for giving permanent resident status (or green cards) on the basis of employment-related skills has not kept up with the needs of the U.S. workforce. The number of green cards is capped every year, and these green cards are allocated by the Department of State (DOS) based on an individual’s country of birth as well as the priority category under which an individual applies. About 140,000 green cards are set aside for distribution among only five employment-based categories during each fiscal year (Oct. 1 through Sept. 30). No more than 7 percent of available green cards can be granted to applicants from any one country in the same category during the course of any given fiscal year.

The Employment-Based First Preference (EB-1) category is for the highest-skilled immigrants, and includes three sub-classifications: individuals who have extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, and athletics; outstanding professors and researchers; and multinational executives and managers.

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