Bill would make deep cuts to legal immigration levels

Legislation proposed by Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, and David Perdue, R-Ga., would make drastic cuts to the flow of legal immigrants into the U.S.

President Trump supports the measure, which is called the “Reforming American Immigration for Strong Economy” (RAISE) Act.

The proposal would “enact the most far-reaching changes to the system of legal immigration in decades and represents the president’s latest effort to stem the flow of newcomers to the United States” (New York Times, Aug. 2, 2017).

The legislation “seeks to reduce the annual distribution of green cards awarding permanent legal residence to just over 500,000 from more than 1 million” (Washington Post, Aug. 3, 2017).

This BBC article lays out the bill’s specifics.

Statue of Liberty takes center stage at White House briefing

During a briefing at the White House on Aug. related to the legislation, CNN reporter Jim Acosta and Stephen Miller, a senior policy advisor in the Trump administration, had a heated exchange about the bill.

Acosta cited the poem on the base of Statue of Liberty which beckons the world’s “tired … poor … huddled masses yearning to breathe free” to America. Acosta asked Miller if the White House was “trying to change what it means to be an immigrant coming into this country” (CNN, Aug. 2, 2017).

A profile of Miller in the Atlantic magazine published in early 2017 notes that Miller became associated with the “hardline anti-immigration, anti-globalist views” that characterized then-Sen. Jeff Sessions when Miller worked for Sessions.