Would Trump’s immigration plan have prevented his mother from entering the US?

Donald Trump’s proposals to deport millions of undocumented immigrants have received widespread attention during this election cycle. His stance on limiting immigration even among those who enter the United States legally, less so.

But in his Arizona immigration speech last month, which was billed as a “pivot” towards a softer stance on undocumented immigrants, yet turned out to be anything but, Trump spoke at length about the need to curtail legal immigration in order to protect American jobs and wages.

Trump’s mother, a Scottish immigrant who entered the country for the first time as a 17-year old in 1929, would likely have been unable to immigrate had these policies been in place at the time.

Let’s review the portions of Trump’s speech that pertained to legal immigration, according to a transcript from Politico. (Emphasis mine)

Hillary Clinton has pledged amnesty in her first 100 days, and her plan will provide Obamacare, Social Security and Medicare for illegal immigrants — breaking the federal budget. On top of that, she promises uncontrolled low-skilled immigration that continues to reduce jobs and wages for American workers, especially African-American and Hispanic workers. This includes her plan to bring in 620,000 new refugees in a four-year term.

To be clear, limiting low-skilled immigrants wasn’t just something Trump threw in between his more well-known proposals about undocumented immigrants and refugees. It was also the last point of his 10-point immigration plan, which included these two proposals:

· To select immigrants based on their likelihood of success in U.S. society, and their ability to be financially self-sufficient. We need a system that serves our needs — remember, it’s America First.

· To choose immigrants based on merit, skill and proficiency

Now contrast those proposals with these news reports about Mary MacLeod Trump’s entry into the US. According to the New Yorker, on at least two ship manifests as well as the 1930 census, her occupation was listed as “maid.”

The Daily Mail, which wrote a comprehensive piece on MacLeod Trump back in May, reported that she left “abject poverty in Scottish Isle of Lewis” and came to New York with no more than $50 in her pocket.

As a maid with limited funds, MacLeod Trump would fall under the category of a low-skilled worker. And her ability to be “financially self-sufficient,” as Trump put it, would be in doubt. She married Fred Trump in 1936 and became involved in several charitable causes. In his 1987 book “The Art of the Deal,” Donald Trump described her as a “very traditional housewife, but she also had a sense of the world beyond her.”

Trump has never shied away from his Scottish heritage. He’s built several resorts and golf courses in his mother’s native country, even naming a course after her.

Interestingly, MacLeod Trump arrived in New York a few years after Congress passed a restrictive immigration law in 1924. If elected, her son could spearhead another one.