> it just keeps immigrants in precarious positions for much longe
That is entirely the point of the system. Let's say if anyone could get a GC, X people would. Let's say you need a work visa and it takes 3 years, Y people would. If you need a Masters+ and it takes 15 years then Z people would. X > Y > Z. The system is designed to discourage certain people and/or just have them drop out of the system out of frustration or ill fortune. It is arbitrary, capricious and punitive. By design.
> I don't see any reason to keep per-country GC quotas in place.
The US is a country founded on white supremacy (eg [1]). The fact that the system makes it harder for some countries is not an accident. It's by design. Take the green card lottery (which, again, Indian nationals aren't eligible for by design). It was invented largely to benefit the Irish [2].
> it doesn't actually prevent immigration (since we still grant work visas with temporary residence - that's a separate process from getting a GC),
It's exactly what it does. Children age out of the immigration system. Others fall out of the pipeline for other reasons and have to leave the country. That's the definition of preventing (certain) immigration.
Racist US immigration policy is not evidence that the country was founded on white supremacy.
The article you linked to describes how Benjamin Franklin disliked Germans because they were Catholic, not white. It wasn’t until decades later that the US Supreme Court ruled that race was a criteria for determining eligibility for naturalization.
That is entirely the point of the system. Let's say if anyone could get a GC, X people would. Let's say you need a work visa and it takes 3 years, Y people would. If you need a Masters+ and it takes 15 years then Z people would. X > Y > Z. The system is designed to discourage certain people and/or just have them drop out of the system out of frustration or ill fortune. It is arbitrary, capricious and punitive. By design.
> I don't see any reason to keep per-country GC quotas in place.
The US is a country founded on white supremacy (eg [1]). The fact that the system makes it harder for some countries is not an accident. It's by design. Take the green card lottery (which, again, Indian nationals aren't eligible for by design). It was invented largely to benefit the Irish [2].
> it doesn't actually prevent immigration (since we still grant work visas with temporary residence - that's a separate process from getting a GC),
It's exactly what it does. Children age out of the immigration system. Others fall out of the pipeline for other reasons and have to leave the country. That's the definition of preventing (certain) immigration.
[1]: https://qz.com/904933/a-history-of-american-anti-immigrant-b...
[2]: https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/01/diversity...