Stephen Miller, President Trump’s senior adviser for policy, is collaborating with two conservative senators to support legislation limiting legal immigration, according to a report Wednesday.
Miller was known for his hawkish immigration views while working with Attorney General Jeff Sessions when he was a senator representing Alabama. Steve Bannon, the White House chief strategist, also supports the proposal, according to Politico.
The bill, to be introduced later this summer by Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and David Perdue, R-Ga., would cut in half the number of legal immigrants entering the U.S. each year by 2027.
Currently, about a million legal immigrants enter the country annually.
The new bill is a revised version of legislation the two senators unveiled in February, called the RAISE Act, which they also discussed with the Trump administration.
It would transform the current legal immigration system, which mostly rewards people who have family currently in the U.S., into a merit-based system.
For example, Politico says the legislation would increase the number of green cards granted to foreigners in categories including outstanding professors and researchers, those holding advanced degrees, and those with extraordinary ability in a particular field.
It will likely be contested by fellow Republicans, and Democrats, many who advocate what they consider to be the overall economic benefits of immigration and would oppose a drastic remaking of the system, and limiting the number of entrants. Senators like Cotton argue low-skilled immigrants limit job opportunities and suppress wages for native-born Americans, so higher priority should be assigned to those with more advanced skills.
