Despite its unusual unveiling at the White House, presidential endorsement, and significant media coverage, a new Senate Republican bill proposing dramatic cuts to legal permanent immigration is unlikely to gain much traction in Congress. Still, the ideas that underpin the RAISE Act seem likely to affect future immigration debates.

The two major proposals in the legislation introduced by Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and David Perdue of Georgia are deep cuts to family-based immigration and the creation of a points system for the selection of immigrants coming via employer sponsorship. Our analysis suggests the family-based cuts would fall hardest on U.S. residents seeking to bring in relatives from a small number of countries, with disproportionate effects for India and Vietnam, among others. And while much attention has focused on the points system and the sponsors’ promise of “merit-based” immigration, in reality the legislation would change employment-based immigration less than some might anticipate, as this analysis will explain.

What the Senate bill proposes is to change the system for allocating these green cards. Under the current system, most employment-based immigrants enter through five discrete channels:

  1. “persons of extraordinary ability” who can document high-level accomplishments in their field, a tough standard for most workers to meet, particularly early in their careers;
  2. professionals with advanced graduate degrees or exceptional ability; (3) professionals, skilled workers (those with at least a two-year college degree), and unskilled workers (for whom just 5,000 green cards are allocated yearly); (4) certain special immigrants who meet U.S. national interests; and (5) immigrant investors, who invest at least $500,000.
  3. professionals, skilled workers (those with at least a two-year college degree), and unskilled workers (for whom just 5,000 green cards are allocated yearly); (4) certain special immigrants who meet U.S. national interests; and (5) immigrant investors, who invest at least $500,000.
  4. certain special immigrants who meet U.S. national interests; and (5) immigrant investors, who invest at least $500,000.
  5. immigrant investors, who invest at least $500,000.

The changes would be far more dramatic for humanitarian and family-based immigration. On the humanitarian front, the legislation would put a statutory cap of 50,000 for annual refugee resettlement— eliminating the President’s ability to adjust refugee admissions in response to world crises and in pursuit of diplomatic and humanitarian goals.

Read the source article at Migration Policy Institute