FGI News and Publications

New Bill Seeks To Limit Legal Immigration & Abolish Diversity Lottery

RAISE Act Seeks to Limit Legal Immigration, Abolish Diversity

Lottery

On August 2, 2017, Senators Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and David Perdue

(R-Ga.), with the backing of President Donald Trump¹, introduced the

Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) Act (S.

1720). The Bill would create a merit-based immigration system.

In announcing the bill, Senator Cotton stated, “We will

build an immigration system that raises working wages, creates

jobs, and gives every American a fair shot at creating wealth,

whether your family came over on the Mayflower or just took the

oath of citizenship.” Senator Perdue said the Act “will

create a skills-based system that is more responsive to the needs

of our economy and preserves the quality of jobs available to

American workers.”²

Provisions in the Act include:

• Eliminating the Diversity Visaprogram;
• Capping the number of refugeesgranted permanent visas to the U.S. at 50,000 per year;
• Maintaining immigration preferencesfor the spouses and minor children of U.S. residents, but

  eliminating visa preferences for extended family and grown adult

  family members of U.S. residents;

• Creating a temporary visa for theelderly parents of U.S. residents to come to the U.S. for

  caretaking;

• Replacing the currentemployment-based immigration system with an immigration points

  system based on education, English-language ability, high-paying

  job offers, age, record of extraordinary achievement, and

  entrepreneurial initiative; and

• Conditioning naturalization on thesponsors of an immigrant fulfilling their obligation to reimburse

  the federal government for benefits used by the immigrant (required

  under current law).³

The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on the

Judiciary.

Footnote

[1]

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/08/02/president-donald-j-trump-backs-raise-act

[2]

https://www.perdue.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-perdue-cotton-introduce-the-reforming-american-immigration-for-a-strong-economy-act

[3]

https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/354

The content of this article is intended to provide a general

guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought

about your specific circumstances.