By: Gurshaan Chattha
In February of 2017, Republican Senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue introduced the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy Act (“RAISE Act”). A brief summary of the RAISE Act follows:
-Statistics provided by American Immigration Council
On August 21, 2017, The Atlantic reported that President Trump publically endorsed this act by stating “the reforms in the RAISE Act will help ensure that newcomers to our wonderful country will be assimilated, will succeed, and will achieve the American Dream.” This push by the President behind the RAISE Act was immediately applauded by immigration restricted groups.
The goals and idea contained in the RAISE Act are not necessarily new and were first introduced in the 1990s to overhaul the United States immigration system in order to reduce the number of immigrants in the United States. Unlike the past, where either Presidential or Congressional support has been against this reformation, the current White House is playing a major role in thrusting the proposal into the mainstream.
Arguments have been made from both sides as to the economic impact of a merit based immigration systems. Critics have pointed out that a merit based system would hinder and cripple industries that rely on low-skilled immigrant labor force. However, supporters of the bill argue the opposite in that a higher-skilled immigration system will contribute more to the overall economy and be beneficial to the country.
What route the Trump Administration plans to take with the Raise Act has become more complicated with the recent cancellation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. One guess to what the Trump Administration will aim for, is creating a path for legalization of the Dreamers subject under DACA in exchange for concessions for complete Immigration reform such as the RAISE Act. Besides DACA, another issue that complicates any immigration reform is the Border Wall promised by Trump during his campaign. Like many pending actions with this administration, predicting any outcome has been extremely difficult. At this point we will have to wait and see if any major immigration reform is completed within the next three years.
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