Tom Cotton's Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment Act Would Cut LEGAL Immigration To Save American Jobs
04/04/2017
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Here at VDARE.COM we can’t endorse legislation. But we can report on it.

There’s currently a bill in the U.S. Senate, which hasn’t gotten very far, identified as S. 354, known as the RAISE Act.

From the name of the bill you might assume it is for “raising” immigration levels, but it’s not. RAISE is an acronym for Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment. It was introduced and is sponsored by Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who said of it that "It's time our immigration system started working for American workers.”

This is a bill which actually proposes to cut legal immigration drastically. Here’s what Cotton’s website says about it:

Specifically, the RAISE Act would:
  • Prioritize Immediate Family Households. The RAISE Act would retain immigration preferences for the spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents while eliminating preferences for certain categories of extended and adult family members.
  • Eliminate Outdated Diversity Visa Lottery. The Diversity Lottery is plagued with fraud, advances no economic or humanitarian interest, and does not even deliver the diversity of its namesake. The RAISE Act would eliminate the 50,000 visas arbitrarily allocated to this lottery.
  • Place Responsible Limit on Permanent Residency for Refugees. The RAISE Act would limit refugees offered permanent residency to 50,000 per year, in line with a 13-year average.
Cotton, Perdue Unveil the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) Act

Senator Cotton website, February 7, 2017

Roy Beck of Numbers USA speaks highly of this bill:
Sen. Cotton says his bill would reduce the number of lifetime work permits given to foreign citizens by around 40% the first year — and by around 50% in the tenth year after passage. Ending Chain Migration is the primary way the bill would achieve that goal. For several decades, immigrants no longer have been limited to bringing in a spouse and minor children. Chain Migration categories allow each immigrant (once a citizen) to petition for adult brothers and sisters, for adult sons and daughters, and for parents. Each of them can in turn do the same along with bringing their own spouses who can start whole new chains in their own families, and so forth in a never-ending pattern.

Sen. Cotton would stop all of that immigration which adds millions of workers each decade without any regard to their skills or how they would affect Americans competing in the same occupations.

By limiting family immigration to a spouse and minor children — including overseas adoptions and marriages by U.S. citizens — Sen. Cotton says the bill would . . . " . . . restore historical levels of immigration in order to give working Americans a fair shot at wealth creation."

Sen. Tom Cotton unveils 'RAISE Act' to end Chain Migration & Visa Lottery

Roy Beck, Numbers USA, March 10, 2017

 

 

 

 

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