Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) will introduce a bill on Tuesday that would limit who could sponsor an immigrant to receive a green card, Politico reported Tuesday morning.
Currently, U.S. citizens and permanent residents can sponsor family members to obtain green cards, but this bill would only allow someone’s spouse or child who is an unmarried minor to sponsor them for a green card, according to Politico. The bill would also allow for children to bring over elderly parents, per Politico.
The legislation would also limit the refugee program to 50,000 people per year and eliminate the diversity lottery, which sets aside 50,000 visas each year to citizens from countries from which few people immigrate to the U.S., per Politico.
Cotton’s office told Politico that the bill would reduce legal immigration by about 40 percent in the first year of implementation and by 50 percent over ten years.
“Sen. Cotton and I are taking action to fix the shortcomings in our legal immigration system,” Perdue told Politico. “Returning to our historically normal levels of legal immigration will help improve the quality of American jobs and wages.”
Cotton said that Trump’s election made it clear that the American people want reforms to the immigration system.
“Donald Trump was the only one who saw that most Americans don’t like our current immigration system,” he told Politico. “This is just the area of politics where I think leaders and elites are most disconnected from the people. Not just Republicans but in both parties, in business, in the media, in the academy, culture and so forth.”
Cotton said that he has spoken with the Trump administration about his proposals and that he may introduce additional legislation addressing immigration, per Politico.
