@matrix I mean to play devil's advocate, merit based immigration policy is basically designed to keep people out who aren't from countries that have stable systems that provide enough opportunities in order to have merit that is decided by a country in which productivity is everything, so you get people who get in but basically just live like they are still in Mexico or Costa Rica or whatever other country
You can compare this to Japan, in which most of their immigration system is simply how much you culturally understand them, and about integration, much of which they help teach you but the ways to get in are much harder because Japan doesn't really need immigrants in it's economy, where as most of American economy is based on paying less than the living standard
The conflation of economic deregulation with personal freedom is the second greatest lie of the last two hundred years, right behind the frankly audacious "Fascism isn't Socialist"