Republican Senator proposes new legislation to end employment-based Green Card.
The Americans First Immigration Act, introduced by the Alabama Republican on September 24, would require employers seeking to hire foreign workers to first recruit US workers and certify that the foreign hire would not displace an American worker. Amid several sweeping changes to the US immigration rules, Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville has introduced new legislation seeking to end Green Card lottery and employment-based Green Cards.
The legislation intends to move away from the current employment-based Green Card structure and instead assess applicants according to a set of merit-based criteria. His office said the proposal would reward factors such as skills, education, English proficiency and high-value job offers rather than selection by lottery. Under the proposal, family-sponsored immigration would be limited to the immediate or “nuclear” family, specifically spouses and minor children.
This is just legislation and many such pieces of legislation are proposed regularly by lawmakers, which never see the light of day. The bill was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Under the proposal, the existing employment-based immigrant visa categories would be replaced with a points-based programme. Applicants would earn points for factors including education, English-language proficiency, high-paying US job offers, military service and extraordinary achievement. One of the bill’s major proposals is the elimination of the Diversity Immigrant Visa programme, commonly known as the Green Card lottery. Tuberville’s bill would replace that system with a merit-based approach. This would eliminate several existing categories through which US citizens and lawful permanent residents can sponsor other relatives.
The program currently makes a limited number of immigrant visas available through a lottery to people from countries with historically lower levels of immigration to the US.