Sens. Cotton and Perdue's Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy Act
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The Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) Act was introduced by Senators Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.) on August 2, 2017, to modify the country's immigration system. The bill would move away from the system of awarding visas based on various categories of employment and instead implement a points-based system. The bill would also eliminate the Diversity Lottery as well as family-based immigration for parents, siblings, and adult children; spouses and minor children would still be eligible for family-based immigration. Permanent visas given to refugees would be capped at 50,000 annually.
President Donald Trump (R) endorsed the bill on August 2, 2017, stating, "This legislation will not only restore our competitive edge in the 21st century, but it will restore the sacred bonds of trust between America and its citizens."[1]
Text of plan
Below is the full text of the immigration proposal developed by Senators Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.).[2]
Summary of plan
Diversity Lottery
The bill would eliminate the Diversity Lottery program, which issues 50,000 visas annually for immigrants who are citizens of countries from where few immigrants have come to the United States in the past.[2]
Refugee admissions
The bill would limit the number of refugees accepted into the United States each year to 50,000. It would not place a cap on the number of individuals granted asylum, but would require the president to annually state the number of asylees admitted over the previous year. The difference between refugees and asylees rests on where the application for entry is submitted. Refugees are those who apply for protection in the United States while still residing overseas; asylees are individuals who request protection at the border or from within the United States.[2][3]
Family-based immigration
The bill would revise the definition of immediate relative to exclude parents, siblings, and adult children. This means that only spouses and minor children would be considered immediate relatives eligible to be sponsored by a United States citizen or permanent resident for immigration. Family-based immigration would be capped at 88,000 individuals per year.[2]
Under the bill, adult children citizens may sponsor their parents as nonimmigrants, meaning they could enter the United States on a temporary basis. The bill would set this limit at 5 years, which could be extended by additional 5-year periods as long as the adult citizen resided in the United States.[2]
Employment-based immigration
The bill would move away from the system of awarding visas based on various categories of employment and instead implement a points-based system. Under the points-based system, potential immigrants would earn points "based on education, English-language ability, high-paying job offers, age, record of extraordinary achievement, and entrepreneurial initiative." The points would be awarded in the following manner:
| Age | Education | English-language test scores | Achievement | Job offer | Investment |
| •18-21: 6 points | •High school degree: 1 point | •1st-5th deciles: 0 points | •Nobel Laureate: 25 points | •Salary 150-200% above median: 5 points | •Applicant invests $1,350,000: 6 points |
| •22-25: 8 points | •Foreign bachelor's degree: 5 points | •6th-7th deciles: 6 points | •Olympic medalist: 15 points | •Salary 200-300% above median: 8 points | •Applicant invests $1,800,000: 12 points |
| •26-30: 10 points | •U.S. bachelor's degree: 6 points | •8th decile: 10 points | •Salary over 300% above median: 13 points | ||
| •31-35: 8 points | •Foreign master's STEM degree: 7 points | •9th decile: 11 points | |||
| •36-40: 6 points | •U.S. master's STEM degree: 8 points | •10th decile: 12 points | |||
| •41-45: 4 points | •Foreign doctorate STEM degree: 10 points | ||||
| •46-50: 2 points | •U.S. doctorate STEM degree: 13 points | ||||
| •51+: 0 points |
An individual would need to earn 30 points before becoming eligible for a visa; they would then join a pool of other eligible individuals, from which U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services would twice per year select individuals with the most points to fill out applications. Up to 140,000 immigrants would be granted employment-based visas annually.[2]
Eligible individuals would remain in the pool for 12 months; if they were not selected during that time, they would have to submit a new application.[2]
Members of Congress on the RAISE Act
Support
- Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.): "The RAISE Act would promote higher wages on which all working Americans can build a future-whether your family came over here on the Mayflower or you just took the oath of citizenship."[4]
- Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.): "We are taking action to fix some of the shortcomings in our legal immigration system. Returning to our historically normal levels of legal immigration will help improve the quality of American jobs and wages."[4]
- President Donald Trump (R): "This legislation will not only restore our competitive edge in the 21st century, but it will restore the sacred bonds of trust between America and its citizens."[1]
Opposition
- Reps. John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.): "The Trump, Cotton, Perdue bill is rooted in the same anti-immigrant, xenophobic, and isolationist rhetoric that was a cornerstone of the Trump campaign. It would drastically--and cynically--slash legal immigration channels into the United States, making it even harder for people to come in the right way. And rather than help American workers acquire better jobs and better wages, the bill would drastically reduce economic growth and hurt the wages and working conditions of all Americans."[5]
- Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.): "This offensive plan ... is nothing but a series of nativist talking points and regurgitated campaign rhetoric that completely fails to move our nation forward toward real reform."[6]
- Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.): "I think you have to consider that we do want high-tech people, but we also need low-skilled people who will do work that Americans won't do. ... I wouldn't do it. Even in my misspent youth, I wouldn't do it."[7]
News feed
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The New York Times, "Trump Supports Plan to Cut Immigration in Half," August 2, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Senator Tom Cotton, "Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy Act," accessed August 10, 2017
- ↑ All Law, "Asylee vs. Refugee: Application & Procedural Differences," accessed August 10, 2017
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Senator Tom Cotton, "Cotton, Perdue Unveil the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) Act," February 7, 2017
- ↑ U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary - Democrats, "Conyers, Lofgren Statement on Trump Announcement of Support for Anti-Immigrant RAISE Act,'" August 2, 2017
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Trump, GOP senators introduce bill to slash legal immigration levels," August 3, 2017
- ↑ The Hill, "McCain on merit-based immigration bill: 'I wouldn't do it,'" August 3, 2017
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