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.

The use of tractor-trailers by human smugglers is receiving renewed attention as a result of the recent deaths of 10 immigrants found in the back of an abandoned tractor-trailer in a San Antonio Walmart.

A recent New York Times article details why smugglers have turned to the use of tractor-trailers in recent years and just how dangerous it can be for immigrants.

19 immigrants died in 2003 smuggling operation

Several media reports about the deaths of the immigrants in San Antonio point to similarities involving a smuggling operation that resulted in the death of 19 immigrants in 2003.

In both cases, immigrants were abandoned in the back of a tractor-trailer in sweltering temperatures in Texas.

In 2007, the driver of that tractor-trailer, Tyrone Williams, was sentenced to life in parole for his role in the deaths of the 19 immigrants. In 2011, he was re-sentenced to nearly 34 years in prison.

The driver in the San Antonio case, James Mathew Bradley, Jr., has been accused of knowingly transporting undocumented immigrants, which is a federal crime that can carry the death penalty if it leads to the death of immigrants.

Texas Lieutenant Governor blames sanctuary cities

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said that the deaths of the immigrants in San Antonio were the result of sanctuary cities.

In a Facebook post, Patrick wrote: “Sanctuary cities entice people to believe they can come to America and Texas and live outside the law. Sanctuary cities also enable human smugglers and cartels. Today, these people paid a terrible price and demonstrate why we need secure border and legal immigration reform so we can control who enters our country.”

In a sharp rebuke to Patrick, the Austin American Statesman’s editorial board said that the statement lacked “the compassion and respect for human life one would expect from a prominent state leader — especially one governing in Texas with a large Hispanic population and legacy —,” and also “glossed over incontrovertible facts: Sanctuary cities don’t entice immigrants to come to the United States. Jobs do.”

A recent Vox article details how volunteers throughout the U.S. ready to assist refugees are increasingly in limbo as the Trump refugee ban remains in effect. One of the states profiled in the article is Arkansas, a state that went for Trump in the 2016 presidential election by more than 20 points.

Writing in the latest issue of the Atlantic magazine, Peter Beinart argues that Democrats need to change their approach to immigration on a number of fronts including putting immigrants’ learning English at the center of their immigration agenda.

In his piece, “How the Democrats Lost Their Way on Immigration,” Beinart notes that there are several reasons why it would be a mistake for liberals to oppose immigration including that immigration benefits immigrants as well as family members in their countries of origin. He also notes the benefits of immigration for the U.S. economy.

At the same time, he argues that “Liberals must take seriously Americans’ yearning for social cohesion. To promote both mass immigration and greater economic redistribution, they must convince more native-born white Americans that immigrants will not weaken the bonds of national identity. This means dusting off a concept many on the left currently hate: assimilation.”

Since President Trump came into office, some refugees living in the U.S. have decided they would be better off in Canada.

But making that journey can be harrowing and potentially life threatening, as this recent New York Times article details.

The Atlantic earlier this year published a photo essay featuring refugees trying to enter Canada across the U.S. border.

This photo shows a family from Sudan attempting to enter Canada.

(photo credit: Christinne Muschi/Reuters).

And this photo is of a family from Yemen trying to cross the U.S.-Canada border.

(photo credit: Christinne Muschi/Reuters)

Other news coverage includes this Independent (UK) story from earlier this year, which focused on the small Canadian border town of Emerson, which has seen a surge of refugees trying to cross into Canada.

The Supreme Court on July 19 weighed in again on President Trump’s travel ban, “saying the government for now may enforce tight restrictions on refugees but also must make it easier for people from six mostly Muslim countries to enter the United States” (Washington Post, July 19, 2017).

The court’s ruling allows grandparents and other relatives of American residents to come while legal challenges to the Trump administration’s travel ban move forward.

The White House had appealed a recent ruling by U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson “that required the government to allow in refugees formally working with a resettlement agency in the United States. Watson also vastly expanded the family relations that refugees and visitors can use to get into the country” (Los Angeles Times, July 19, 2017). The Supreme court blocked Watson’s order as it applies to refugees, but not the expanded list of relatives, the Los Angeles Times noted.

An Amnesty International report released July 5 argues that the soaring death toll in the central Mediterranean “and the horrific abuses faced by thousands of refugees and migrants in Libyan detention centers are clearly linked to failing EU policies.”

The report goes on to say that by ceding the lion’s share of responsibility for search and rescue to non-governmental organizations “and by increasing cooperation with the Libyan coastguard, European governments are failing to prevent drownings and turning a blind eye to abuse, including torture and rape.”

Meanwhile, the Guardian reported on July 5 that the EU on July 6 “will urge European countries to give shelter to more refugees from Africa to ease the pressure on Italy, as record numbers of people attempt the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean” (The Guardian, July 5, 2017).

Italy recently threatened to close its ports to refugee rescue ships.

The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants posted this news on its Facebook page July 5.

A free ringtone has been developed with “know your rights” information for immigrants in Spanish.

The New York Times editorial board calls on European countries to take action to help migrants (New York Times, July 3, 2017).

My hometown of St. Louis welcomed a record number of refugees in 2016 (St. Louis Public Radio, June 20, 2017).

Indeed, St. Louis has welcome previous waves of immigrants and refugees. Refugees fleeing the Balkan wars of the 1990s settled in the city (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 31, 2017).