Consider that Beijing has 21 million residents but less than 14 million hukou holders, there is a lot of migrant labor to go around.
It’s not a new idea it is one that I think most western countries would say, “we tried it and it failed.”
For me it brings to mind racism, slavery, a good excuse for genocide.
In the west the idea of hukou isn’t “foreign” it is too familiar and ugly. Like an alcoholic father you have left behind.
It does not bother me in any way that the government in China gets to decide whether and where people can travel or work or live.
I'm glad they don't do it where I live, but I am sure the average Chinese citizen is glad they don't have to suffer many indignities and strange quirks of western life.
I cannot, for instance, let my child play with a water gun at the public park for fear he will be shot and killed by a police officer. I do not need to pretend that's unquestionably good. It is certainly not the way I would prefer to live. It is just a fact of life.