> I suspect that a future immigration policy based of a belief there is a single-line merit measure is going to have huge flaws. If I understand you correctly:

> I suspect that a future immigration policy based of a belief there is a single-line merit measure is going to have huge flaws. If I understand you correctly: this is accounted for in the Canadian system, at least, through a complex merit measurement. Multiple factors that are weighted according to desired immigration outcomes, and allow categorical exceptions (ie valid refugees or asylum seekers can have '100% merit' and be processed differently). This is how they regulate the justness and social outcomes. I think it's a more reasoned immigration system, to measure merit along multiple axes, but I think it goes a bit against the idealized 'American Dream', especially as espoused on the statue of liberty.