I am not sure I agree it is a symptom of something wrong. Merit has been the major factor in these decisions which is why Jews and Asians have been so overly represented with respect to their population size. This is how things should be in terms of who to let in, and there is significant evidence that these immutable characteristics DO have a bearing on the quality of the candidate.
However, we should NEVER consider these characteristics. Instead we should considered the merit of the candidate. I don't care if my surgeon is an African refugee who escaped a crazed warlord and has an incredible story. I care that they are one of the best possible people in the world to be performing this surgery because not everyone is equipped to perform it and I don't want to die because they aren't able to handle this position.