visa lottery

In a Tweet Monday, Pres. Trump called for an end to the visa lottery and chain migration. He also called for immigration measures that would increase border security, tighten asylum policy, and end sanctuary cities.

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) said House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte’s (R-Va.) H.R. 4760 will get a floor vote at some point during the week of June 17th. Chairman Goodlatte has been negotiating changes in the bill to drum up more support, but is still short of the 218 votes needed for passage. A vote on H.R. 4760 would kill the effort to establish votes on four immigration measures through a discharge petition for H.Res. 774.

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) will propose a bill as early as today that is similar to the White House proposal, but makes several tweaks so that legal immigration levels never fall below 1 million per year. The proposal would convert any green cards freed up by ending the Visa Lottery or Chain Migration categories to employment-based green cards.

Rep. Bob Goodlatte's (R-Va.) Securing America's Future Act, H.R. 4760, now has 96 cosponsors! Rep. Goodlatte's legislation would end chain migration and the visa lottery, mandate use of the E-Verify system, and grant work permits to DACA recipients.

Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and David Perdue (R-Ga.) released a statement today opposing the “Gang of 6” proposal which fails to address any of Pres. Trump’s immigration policy priorities. The proposal, presented by Sens. Durbin (D-Ill.), Flake (R-Ariz.), and Graham (R-S.C.) would not strengthen border security or interior enforcement, fails to end Chain Migration and the Visa Lottery, and would grant amnesty, not only to previous DACA recipients, but to all Dreamers and their parents as well.

The DHS and DOJ released a report today showing that 402 of the 549 people convicted of international terrorism in the U.S. between Sept. 11, 2001 and Dec. 31, 2016 were foreign-born. Of those 402, 148 managed to obtain U.S. citizenship. Within the same time period ICE removed about 1,716 aliens who posed national security concerns.

Four House Republicans introduced legislation today to grant amnesty to DACA recipients while addressing all of Pres. Trump's demands. The Securing America's Future Act, introduced by House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, House Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Raul Labrador, House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul, and House Border Subcommittee Chairwoman Martha McSally, would end Chain Migration and the Visa Lottery, make E-Verify mandatory for all employers, and beef up both interior enforcement and border security.

Pres. Trump once again called for an end to Chain Migration and the Visa Lottery in a meeting today with several Republican Senators who are negotiating with Democrats on DACA legislation. The President also called for an end to both programs over Twitter over the last week.

Director for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Lee Francis Cissna wrote an op-ed for the Capitol Hill publication The Hill today that calls on Congress to end Chain Migration and the Visa Lottery. USCIS is the agency that issues all green cards to foreign nationals.

Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.) is working on legislation that would end Chain Migration and the Visa Lottery and require all businesses to use E-Verify. He says he's introducing the legislation now, in fear of legislation coming from a House working group GOP that would likely grant amnesty and permanent work permits to DACA recipients.

Pres. Trump said today that he wants to end the visa lottery and chain migration. He said he would immediately ask Congress to start the process to end the visa lottery program.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) discussed the RAISE Act and how it would benefit American workers during an appearance on Meet the Press on Sunday. The show's host, Chuck Todd, had asked Sen. Cotton about a potential trade of the DACA amnesty for border security, but Sen. Cotton instead steered the conversation to the impacts of mass immigration on American workers.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) has introduced the Immigration in the National Interest Act, which is the House companion bill to Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-Ark.) RAISE Act. The RAISE Act would end chain migration and the visa lottery and transform the existing employment-based system to a merit-based one.

In a USA Today op-ed entitled “Our Immigration Plan is Pro-Worker and Pro-Growth” Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.) make the case for their RAISE Act that would update “our immigration laws to attract more ultra-high-skilled workers — and give working-class families the raise they deserve”.

This morning at the White House in front of the national press corps, President Trump endorsed the new RAISE Act that would reduce overall legal immigration by 50% and put employment-based green cards on a skills-based points system.

As an IT professional who used to work for the AFL-CIO, NumbersUSA activist Deena Finchum is well aware of the impacts of mass immigration on American workers and their wages. She recently wrote an op-ed for a Virginia newspaper calling on Congress to pass Sen. Tom Cotton's RAISE Act.

Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.) has introduced H.R.5520, the SAFE for America Act, that would eliminate the annual Visa Lottery. The Visa Lottery issues 55,000 greencards per year to foreign citizens of countries that have lower rates of immigration to the United States. The greencards are awarded, however, through a random lottery drawing and without consideration of the recipients educational attainment or work skills.