The RAISE Act, a bill sponsored by Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and David Perdue (R-GA) and championed by the Trump Administration via Stephen Miller, was introduced yesterday, to the consternation of just about everyone but the most die-hard Trump supporters.
The bill would slash legal immigration by 50%, eliminate multiple categories of legal immigration, curb family-based immigration, cap refugee admissions, and eliminate the diversity visa. It’s being welcomed by white nationalists, but everyone else has been pointing out that the bill is un-American and bad for the economy. Here’s some of what they’ve been saying:
- Only 36% of Americans want reduced levels of legal immigration
- America is founded on the promise of immigrants, many of whom didn’t speak English or have highly-paid skills when they arrived. That didn’t stop them — or their children — from achieving and contributing great things
- Economists agree that the RAISE Act would tank the economy, and point out that the country needs more, not less, immigration to flourish
- The RAISE Act is racist because it discriminates against categories of immigrants — basically all nonwhite immigrant groups
- The bill is a poor substitute for real immigration reform that would grow the economy and show compassion for the immigrants and families who have helped build America
Read more responses via Storify:
Read more about the RAISE Act
- Jewish Journal: Stephen Miller, meet your immigrant great-grandfather
- Washington Post editorial: Trump’s war on legal immigration would cripple the economy
- Washington Post op-ed: Trump says the proposed immigration bill will raise wages for Americans. It won’t.
- Washington Post column: A crass play to xenophobes will go nowhere
- Washington Post: ‘Cheap slaves’: Trump, immigration and the ugly history of the Chinese Exclusion Act
