Sen. Tom Cotton wants to curb the amount of legal immigration among people who compete with American workers for blue-collar jobs.
Cotton, speaking on Fox News on Tuesday, said the immigration system is “not working for American workers” and too many green cards are given away every year. He said he’s introducing legislation that would still allow highly-skilled immigrants to enter the country, but would crack down on people who compete with Americans for low-skilled and unskilled jobs.
“Right now, we have a legal immigration system that is not working for American workers,” Cotton said.
The Arkansas Republican added, “What I’m more worried about is we’ve been admitting so many low-skilled and unskilled workers who have been driving down blue-collar wages.”
Cotton’s bill would limit family reunification green cards to just unmarried minor children and spouses; current law allows parents, siblings and married adult children to also receive family unification green cards.
It would also get rid of the diversity visa lottery, which accounts for about 50,000 green cards. And it would limit the number of refugees the United States can admit to 50,000 annually.
According to a Politico report, the amount of legal immigration would drop by 40 percent in the first year and 50 percent over the next 10 years.
“Almost none of those green cards are based on job skills or demonstrated economic need,” Cotton told Fox News.
“They put downward pressure on blue-collar wages.”
He said green cards would still be issued to white-collar immigrants who work in lucrative fields.
