A trio of Senate Republicans are moving to thwart efforts by White House adviser Jared Kushner to issue temporary visas to migrant workers by proposing a plan to reduce the number of legal immigrants entering the U.S.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is reintroducing the “Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy Act,” dubbed the RAISE Act, along with Sens. David Perdue, R-Ga., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo, elected in 2018. The bill would replace the current employment visa framework with a skills-based points system, prioritizing immigrants with U.S.-recognized college degrees, English language skills, high-paying job offers, and financial holdings inside the country.
“Sometimes the president needs to be reminded that he was elected to do something about our immigration problems. The focus is always on the border and points of entry, but his message went beyond that. This is about giving the American worker a fair shake and protecting them from low-skill workers who undercut wages for the average American,” one Senate GOP aide involved in pushing the RAISE Act told the Washington Examiner.
“We’re ensuring that our federal government is putting American workers ahead of business interests.”
The RAISE Act serves as a foil to current efforts from inside the White House, led by Kushner, according to Politico, to increase the number of low- and high-skilled workers permitted to to enter the U.S. to fill needed job vacancies, primarily in the agriculture and hospitality industries. President Trump, while saying he supports higher levels of legal immigration, also endorsed the RAISE Act when it was introduced in the 115th Congress.
According to Cotton’s office, the RAISE Act would lower overall immigration to 637,960 in its first year, signaling a stark 41% drop in visa allotments. The goal of the bill is to achieve a 50% reduction in legal immigration by the bill’s tenth year.
The bill would “spur economic growth and help raise working Americans’ wages ending chain migration, giving priority to the most skilled immigrants from around the world, and reducing overall immigration by half,” Cotton’s office said in a statement.
Rep. Francis Rooney, R-Fla., introduced the House version of the RAISE Act, saying the merit-based immigration program will help the U.S. economy and will be “significantly better immigration policy and greater control of our borders.”
“We are pushing an all-encompassing strategy combining the RAISE Act, tightening up the Asylum process and making E-Verify mandatory, as well as requesting that the House appropriate funds to complete the wall where it is needed,” Rooney told the Washington Examiner.
Kushner’s proposal began to take shape inside the White House this year when he began hosting meetings with a wide range of pro-immigration groups, including business leaders across the country, agriculture associations, and other advocacy groups that benefit from an increase in legal immigration. A legislative proposal resulting from Kushner’s efforts is said to be introduced in Congress likely before the August recess.
But Kushner is facing more opposition even from within the White House as Stephen Miller, a senior policy adviser to Trump, is gaining influence on immigration matters, particularly in issues dealing with the Department of Homeland Security, after Kirstjen Nielsen’s ouster as Homeland Security secretary last week.
Miller, 33, has made a name for himself acting as a fierce public surrogate for Trump and pushing for a harder line on immigration. He served as communications director for then-Sen. Jeff Sessions from 2012 to 2016 before joining the Trump campaign in January 2016.
