> A country picking high-quality immigrants ≠ a country competing for immigrants. The opposite, in fact.

It goes both ways. A more streamlined application process and straightforward path to permanent residency is a draw to would-be immigrants who qualify.

I won't discuss illegal immigration or asylum here as those exist for different reasons, other than to say that it's a logical fallacy to assume that just because A is bigger than B, a country doesn’t care about B.