Trump’s New Immigration Bill (RAISE Act)
Aug. 4th, 2017 02:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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justsomeantifas:
Today (August 2nd 2017) Donald Trump introduced his new bill alongside Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas and David Perdue of Georgia. The bill is called the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment Act or RAISE Act and it’s intent is to slash legal immigration levels in half over the next 10 years. Here’s what you need to know.
What Will The RAISE Act Do?
With the intention of cutting immigration, the RAISE Act will do the following:
It will limit the number of green cards awarded to foreigners each year.
It will prioritize green card awards to those who speak English, can financially support themselves and have job skills useful to the U.S.
It will cut the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. by half to 50,000 each year.
It will eliminate the Diversity Visa Program aka the green card lottery that randomly awards green cards to applicants.
It will reform the way extended family members of U.S. citizens get green cards by giving those with work-based skills priority.
It will prohibit those immigrants who hold green cards from receiving welfare (although they will still be required to pay into the state and federal tax system).
About a million immigrants got green cards in 2015, Tom Cotton stated that this bill will bring that number to 600,000 in its first year and within 10 years that number would regularly be at 500,000. Trump, Cotton, and Perdue are calling this a “merit-based system.”
What Trump Is (Now) Saying
During Trump’s campaign he spoke about undocumented immigrants and recently he stated that he did not want to reform legal immigration. When asked if he wanted to “curb legal immigration,” he responded “Oh sure, you know, I want to stop illegal immigration.” He was then asked “Do you want to cut the number of immigrations,” to which he responded “Oh legal. No, no, no. I want people to come into the country legally.“
Perdue and Cotton proposed this bill earlier this year but it didn’t get much attention. Now with a huge healthcare loss, Trump is focusing on the topic that largely appealed to his fanbase: immigration. He’s using the same tactics he usually uses: by stating that immigrants are hurting the country and citizens. “Among those who have been hit hardest in recent years are immigrants and minority workers competing for jobs against brand new arrivals. It has not been fair to our people, our citizens and our workers,” Trump said.
Will This Bill Pass?
Currently the congressional Democrats are resisting the bill and some moderate Republicans too - mainly ones in states with large immigrant populations. There’s also a huge amount of opposition from immigrant rights groups and business leaders.
Trump is saying that immigrants hurt the economy but opponents are pointing out that they actually boost the economy. Trump stated the bill “will reduce poverty, increase wages and save taxpayers billions and billions of dollars.” Economists are also pointing to the low unemployment rate, 4.4 percent last month, as evidence that there are relatively few Americans who are without jobs now, and that, as Baby Boomers retire, there will be a labor shortage.
The RAISE Act will likely have a tough time passing in the Senate and the House however with the small majority, the republicans could squeak it by.
What About That Press Conference?
After Trump’s announcement press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and senior adviser Stephen Miller had a press conference where things got… heated. Miller was questioned about the bill from reporters and as a response he started to hurl insults, he dismissed all questions about Trump hiring foreign workers, and argued with reporter Jim Acosta. It’s really something that can only been seen or read in it’s entirety so here’s a video of the exchange and here’s the full transcript of the press conference.
Finally, during the press conference Sarah Huckabee Sanders read a piece of Trump fan mail (which is now a new tradition) from a little boy, Frank, who wanted to mow the White House lawn. She used this as to make the point: “It’s our responsibility to keep the American dream alive for kids like Frank, immigrants who are already here and those who dream of immigrating here in the future.”
You can read the full 40 pages of the RAISE Act here.
(Your picture was not posted)
justsomeantifas:
Today (August 2nd 2017) Donald Trump introduced his new bill alongside Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas and David Perdue of Georgia. The bill is called the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment Act or RAISE Act and it’s intent is to slash legal immigration levels in half over the next 10 years. Here’s what you need to know.
What Will The RAISE Act Do?
With the intention of cutting immigration, the RAISE Act will do the following:
It will limit the number of green cards awarded to foreigners each year.
It will prioritize green card awards to those who speak English, can financially support themselves and have job skills useful to the U.S.
It will cut the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. by half to 50,000 each year.
It will eliminate the Diversity Visa Program aka the green card lottery that randomly awards green cards to applicants.
It will reform the way extended family members of U.S. citizens get green cards by giving those with work-based skills priority.
It will prohibit those immigrants who hold green cards from receiving welfare (although they will still be required to pay into the state and federal tax system).
About a million immigrants got green cards in 2015, Tom Cotton stated that this bill will bring that number to 600,000 in its first year and within 10 years that number would regularly be at 500,000. Trump, Cotton, and Perdue are calling this a “merit-based system.”
What Trump Is (Now) Saying
During Trump’s campaign he spoke about undocumented immigrants and recently he stated that he did not want to reform legal immigration. When asked if he wanted to “curb legal immigration,” he responded “Oh sure, you know, I want to stop illegal immigration.” He was then asked “Do you want to cut the number of immigrations,” to which he responded “Oh legal. No, no, no. I want people to come into the country legally.“
Perdue and Cotton proposed this bill earlier this year but it didn’t get much attention. Now with a huge healthcare loss, Trump is focusing on the topic that largely appealed to his fanbase: immigration. He’s using the same tactics he usually uses: by stating that immigrants are hurting the country and citizens. “Among those who have been hit hardest in recent years are immigrants and minority workers competing for jobs against brand new arrivals. It has not been fair to our people, our citizens and our workers,” Trump said.
Will This Bill Pass?
Currently the congressional Democrats are resisting the bill and some moderate Republicans too - mainly ones in states with large immigrant populations. There’s also a huge amount of opposition from immigrant rights groups and business leaders.
Trump is saying that immigrants hurt the economy but opponents are pointing out that they actually boost the economy. Trump stated the bill “will reduce poverty, increase wages and save taxpayers billions and billions of dollars.” Economists are also pointing to the low unemployment rate, 4.4 percent last month, as evidence that there are relatively few Americans who are without jobs now, and that, as Baby Boomers retire, there will be a labor shortage.
The RAISE Act will likely have a tough time passing in the Senate and the House however with the small majority, the republicans could squeak it by.
What About That Press Conference?
After Trump’s announcement press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and senior adviser Stephen Miller had a press conference where things got… heated. Miller was questioned about the bill from reporters and as a response he started to hurl insults, he dismissed all questions about Trump hiring foreign workers, and argued with reporter Jim Acosta. It’s really something that can only been seen or read in it’s entirety so here’s a video of the exchange and here’s the full transcript of the press conference.
Finally, during the press conference Sarah Huckabee Sanders read a piece of Trump fan mail (which is now a new tradition) from a little boy, Frank, who wanted to mow the White House lawn. She used this as to make the point: “It’s our responsibility to keep the American dream alive for kids like Frank, immigrants who are already here and those who dream of immigrating here in the future.”
You can read the full 40 pages of the RAISE Act here.
(Your picture was not posted)
