{"id":21345,"date":"2019-04-10T13:49:56","date_gmt":"2019-04-10T17:49:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-immigrationreform.pantheonsite.io\/?p=21345"},"modified":"2019-04-10T13:49:59","modified_gmt":"2019-04-10T17:49:59","slug":"raise-act-reintroduced-in-congress-immigrationreform-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2019\/04\/10\/raise-act-reintroduced-in-congress-immigrationreform-com\/","title":{"rendered":"RAISE Act Reintroduced In Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today, much of the country is focused on the current humanitarian and security crisis at the southern border. However, another crisis has been brewing in the United States for decades as the levels of low-skilled and unskilled immigration have risen, depressing American wages and displacing America\u2019s most vulnerable workers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address this imbalance, Senators Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), David Perdue (R-Ga.), and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) joined with a group of Representatives led by Representative Francis Rooney (R-Fla.) to reintroduce the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) Act<\/em>. If passed, this legislation\u2014previously supported by both FAIR and the Trump administration<\/a>\u2014 would finally bring the U.S. legal immigration system into the 21st<\/sup> century.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, our current legal immigration system does not prioritize immigrants based on skills or abilities. To address this imbalance, the RAISE Act<\/a> would implement a skills-based system in which applicants can earn points based on education, English-language ability, high-paying job offers, age, record of extraordinary achievement, and entrepreneurial initiative. Merit based systems<\/a> are already used in nations around the world, including: Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, and the United Kingdom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to implementing a thorough skill-based system, the RAISE Act makes several other valuable changes to our immigration system.\u00a0 First, the legislation will eliminate the diversity visa lottery<\/a>, which is plagued with fraud, advances no economic or humanitarian interests, and ultimately does not even promote diversity. Additionally, it will prioritize the nuclear family by giving preference to spouses and minor child. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, the bill creates a temporary, renewable visa for American citizens that wish to bring foreign, elderly parents to the United States for caretaking purposes. Finally, the RAISE Act will limit permanent residency to 50,000 refugees<\/a> per year\u2014 a cap chosen based on average numbers for over the past decade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill\u2019s sponsors released the follow statements upon introduction:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud to reintroduce the RAISE Act supported by the\nWhite House. For decades, our immigration system has been completely divorced\nfrom the needs of our country and has harmed the livelihoods of working-class\nAmericans. The RAISE Act would build an immigration system that increases\nworking-class wages, creates jobs, and gives every citizen a fair shot at\nachieving the American Dream, no matter whether their family came over on the\nMayflower or just took the Oath of Allegiance,\u201d said Cotton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur current immigration system is broken and is not meeting\nthe needs of our growing economy. If we want to continue to be the global\neconomic leader, we have to welcome the best and brightest from around the\nworld who wish to come to the United States legally to work and make a better\nlife for themselves. This will require a skills-based immigration system that\nis pro-growth and pro-worker. The RAISE Act is proven to work and is still the\nonly plan that responds to the needs of our economy, while preserving quality\njobs and wages for American workers,\u201d said Purdue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We need an immigration system that puts American\nworkers first. Our broken immigration policies hurt hardworking Americans and\nthe talented individuals who are stuck in line, waiting to contribute to our\ncountry. With the RAISE Act, the United States can finally end chain migration\nand move to a merit-based system. All Americans deserve rising wages, a growing\neconomy, and an equal shot at the American Dream,\u201d said Hawley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe United States immigration system is broken. Only one in\nevery 15 immigrants to our country are granted visas because of their skills,\nand we do not prioritize the ultra-high-skilled immigrants who spur innovation,\ncreate jobs, and make America more competitive. The system we have now supports\nprograms like the Diversity Visa Lottery, which does not add skills or\ncompetitive workers to our workplace, and \u201cchain migration,\u201d whereby once a\nperson enters, their family relations can automatically come to the U.S.\nregardless of their employability\u2026 Passing this legislation, along with\nlegislation that I have cosponsored to fix the asylum-seeking process and\nmandate e-verify, will provide significantly better immigration policy and\ngreater control of our borders,\u201d said Congressman Rooney. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dan Stein, president of FAIR applauded this year\u2019s proposal.\n\u201cThe RAISE Act would ensure that immigration levels \u2013 which currently operate\nin a vacuum and are unaffected by the unemployment level or the economic needs\nof the country \u2013 would finally begin to serve the national interest. It\u2019s\nclearly time for this nation to jettison the failed policies of the past and\nembrace a new paradigm that will do a much better job of selecting immigrants\nwho arrive with the skills they need to make this nation better, while also\nbenefitting themselves and their immediate families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAny legal immigration reform plan that deviates from the\nRAISE framework would betray several of President Trump\u2019s key campaign promises\n\u2014 one of which was reducing overall immigration levels. The White House\nsupported the bill last Congress and they should support it again.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, much of the country is focused on the current humanitarian and security crisis at the southern border. However, another crisis has been brewing in the United States for decades as the levels of low-skilled and unskilled immigration have risen, depressing American wages and displacing America\u2019s most vulnerable workers. To address this imbalance, Senators Tom<\/p>\n

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