The RAISE Act: A Flawed And Misguided Immigration Bill

On August 2, 2017 Republican Senators Tom Cotton (AR) and David Perdue (GA) unveiled an immigration bill titled The Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy Act (RAISE Act). While the stated purpose of this bill is to increase skilled immigration to the U.S. and protect the American workforce, it would do neither of these things. Indeed, the effect of this bill would not be neutral – it would do great injury to the United States.

This bill purports to completely revise the U.S. immigration system by eliminating ALL family-based legal immigration categories except for spouses and minor children of citizens and permanent residents. Even within this limited category, it would change the cutoff in the definition of a child from 21 to 18 years of age. It includes an extremely limited grandfather provision for applications previously filed by visa applicants in categories which would no longer be included in the immigration law. It adds a new temporary visa