What is The Raise Act? Part 3

The Proposed RAISE Act

Part 3:  Elimination of the ‘Diversity Visa’ Program

On August 2, 2017, President Trump promoted a new Senate Bill drafted by Senators David Perdue of Georgia and Tom Cotton of Arkansas known as the ‘RAISE’ Act.

‘RAISE’ is an acronym for “Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy” Act.

The stated purpose of the Bill is to improve the American economy by limiting the number of immigrants admitted into our country.

Background

As stated in the first Blog installment, we are using the proposed Bill is to ‘raise’ our awareness of the more fundamental underpinnings of America’s unique immigration system.  An analysis of this Bill gives us an opportunity to examine: ‘what would constitute a healthy immigration policy in the U.S.’?  thus, the purpose of this article is to explore what is needed in immigration policy to fit the unique history and present cultural pressures of American society today.

We do this by comparing the provisions of the Bill to the current existing law.

 

1. Elimination of the ‘Diversity Visa’ Program

This third installment of our discussion on the RAISE Act addresses the proposed elimination of a program that is commonly referred to as the ‘Green Card Lottery’.  Most people understand that we have a program that allows foreign nationals who do not otherwise have a way to come to the U.S. to live – an opportunity to seek a ‘green card’.  Applications to enter the lottery are filed around the world each year; 55,000 of those applications are randomly selected to permit the applicant to then formally apply for a ‘green card’.

It is important to recognize that the formal name of that program is actually the ‘Diversity Visa’ program because that explains its purpose.  Here’s why:

History

A very brief and simplified history lesson -  U.S. Immigration laws up until the 1952 McCarran-Walter Act operated on a system of quotas – allowing only a certain number of immigrants from each country to enter the United States.  This was preserved in the Act, but modified in subsequent amendments to open America’s borders to insure there was a variety of nations represented in the melting pot of America, (hence the ‘diversity’).

Keep in mind that in 1952, we were just a few years removed from the end of World War II, the creation of the United Nations, the Cold War was heating up and American Policy was to spread democratic ideals in the world while counterbalancing the influence of the Soviet Union in world events.  In what was then a mere quaint seed of globalization, our leaders recognized the importance of sharing ‘American Ideals’ with the rest of the world.   

From a legislative standpoint, our immigration policy was one tool used to accomplish this goal.  We developed an ‘exchange visitor’ visa (the J-1 visa – that still exists today), to bring persons to the U.S. to study and train here, learn about our system, and then return to their home countries to share these democratic influences.  The ‘Diversity’ visa was another product of this effort.  As Vice President Hubert Humphrey noted in deliberation of the 1952 bill, it was important for America to create alliances and take an influential role in countries around the globe.  The objective was to develop “the respect of people around the world”.

Hence, the Diversity Visa Program.

 

 How it Works

Avoiding a detailed explanation of the complex formulas used by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to calculate the breakdown of visas available each year, it basically works this way:

The Departments of State and Homeland Security review data for the preceding five (5) year period to determine how many persons from which countries received lawful permanent residency in the United States.  The number of immigrant visas permitting those persons to come to the U.S. are divided among ‘low admission regions’ and ‘high admission regions’.

Then 55,000 ‘diversity visas’ are made available each year to persons living in the ‘low admission regions’.

Persons from these ‘low admission regions’ may apply for one of the ‘diversity visas’ so long as the person can prove either – that she has a high-school diploma or equivalent, or has at least 2 years of work in an occupation that requires at least 2 years of training or experience.

A lottery is then held to select applications for further consideration.  If a person’s application is randomly chosen – (this avoids the history of ‘quotas’ from specific countries) – the person may then apply for a ‘green card’.  Just like anyone else applying for a ‘green card’ in one of the many other pathways to lawful permanent residency, the applicant must still prove that he or she qualifies for admission, (is ‘admissible’).  

As a consequence, anyone from anywhere in the world has a chance to fulfill his or her dream to come to the United States for a chance at a better life.  In return, the United States benefits from the traditional goal of sharing its values and ideals with persons from around the globe – not to mention the contributions that such motivated persons make to American culture, community and economy.

 

The RAISE Act

The RAISE Act proposes to eliminate this program entirely.

 

 

 

 

 

Next:  ‘Reducing the number of Refugees’

What Is The Proposed 'RAISE' Act? Part 2

Part 2:  ‘Focus on Family-Sponsored Immigration for Spouses and Children’

On August 2, 2017, President Trump promoted a new Senate Bill drafted by Senators David Perdue of Georgia and Tom Cotton of Arkansas known as the ‘RAISE’ Act.

‘RAISE’ is an acronym for “Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy” Act.

The stated purpose of the Bill is to improve the American economy by limiting the number of immigrants admitted into our country.

Background

As stated in the first Blog installment, we are using the proposed Bill is to ‘raise’ our awareness of the more fundamental underpinnings of America’s unique immigration system.  An analysis of this Bill gives us an opportunity to examine: ‘what would constitute a healthy immigration policy in the U.S.’?  thus, the purpose of this article is to explore what is needed in immigration policy to fit the unique history and present cultural pressures of American society today.

We do this by comparing the provisions of the Bill to the current existing law.

 

1. ‘Focus’ on Family-Sponsored Immigration for Spouses and Children

This second installment of our discussion on the RAISE Act addresses the ‘focus on family sponsored immigration for spouses and children’

This language from the Bill is perhaps a bit disingenuous in that the implication is that there is a ‘focus’ to enhance the immigration benefits for spouses and children of U.S. citizens and permanent residents.  More accurately, it eliminates all other immigration benefits for family members and simply salvages existing benefits for spouses and children, yet narrowing the definition of a ‘child’.

The proposed changes under the ‘RAISE’ Act for family-sponsored immigration is a bit more complicated than the elimination and replacement of the employer-sponsored immigration system discussed in the first blog because some elements of the family-sponsored system were retained and others were reconfigured.

It may be helpful to begin with describing the current law affected by the changes sought in the RAISE Bill.

Under existing law, there is a worldwide limit on the number of family-sponsored visas available each year.  Presently, all family-related immigrant visas are limited to 480,000.  (These are reduced by a formula set forth in The Immigration & Nationality Act, Sec. 201(c)(2), but in no case is the number to fall below 226,000.)

The RAISE Bill dramatically reduces this number to 88,000.

The term ‘immediate relative’ currently means the spouse, an unmarried child under the age of 21 and parents of a U.S. citizen who is 21 or older.  Although ‘immediate relatives’ are counted against the worldwide limit, there is no annual numerical limitation for persons seeking lawful permanent residency as an ‘immediate relative’.  In other words, if you meet the definition of an ‘immediate relative’, there will be an immigrant visa available to you, regardless of the numerical limitation.

The RAISE Bill removes ‘parents’ from the category of ‘immediate relative’ and lowers the age of the person defined as a ‘child’ from 21 to 18 years of age.

Under existing law, there are many other family members who can be sponsored for lawful permanent residency despite not being ‘immediate relatives’.  For example, the brother or sister of an adult U.S. citizen, an unmarried son or daughter of a ‘green card’ holder or a married son or daughter of a U.S. citizen may be sponsored for permanent residency (but because of the worldwide limit, these persons may have to wait many years before a visa becomes available).  The problem is that many more than 480,000 foreign persons seek to become U.S. lawful permanent residents each year.  When you consider that there are over 326 million persons living in the U.S., and that nearly all of us trace our ancestry to another country, there are many family members who want to join families that are already here, but there are not enough visas to accommodate the demand.

For example, because of the existing limitation, a person from the Philippines who was sponsored by a sister for a ‘green card’ would have to have filed the immigrant visa petition before April 8, 1994 just to be considered for a ‘green card’ today.  For those who are counting, that was 23 years ago.

One might be surprised by this long delay and might even question whether this current family-sponsored system is even functional.  However, the RAISE Bill eliminates the sibling category all together.   Here are the other family-sponsored categories eliminated by the RAISE Bill:  unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, spouses, children, unmarried sons and daughters of lawful permanent residents, married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens in addition to brothers and sisters of adult U.S. citizens – as well as the parents of U.S. citizens previously discussed.  Under the proposed Bill, the only remaining option for a ‘green card’ for family members are spouses and ‘children’ of U.S. citizens.

 Hence the ‘Focus’ on spouses and children of U.S. citizens.

One concession the RAISE Bill makes to the parents of American citizens is that it provides a non-immigrant (temporary) visa to parents to stay in the U.S. for five (5) years.  Although this non-immigrant visa (referred to as a ‘W’ visa) could be renewed, there are disincentives for a U.S. citizen to secure such a visa since the parent cannot work during this period, and the U.S. citizen child must prove that he or she will cover all of the parent’s living expenses, (regardless of the parent’s own assets) and secure health insurance for the parent, at no expense to the parent.

One final element in the proposed RAISE bill is a bit tricky; if the Bill were to pass, any visa application of a parent of a U.S. citizen, brother, sister or any other category eliminated by this Bill as discussed above filed after the date this Bill was introduced would be invalid on the date the Bill became law.  Since the Bill was introduced on August 2, 2017, any visa application filed today under one of the extinguished family classifications would be invalid if this Bill were to ever become law.  In other words, it’s already too late.

Again, few people fully expect this Bill to become law, at least not in its original version; but it is helpful to examine the potential consequences if this Bill were to pass Congress and signed into law by the President.  The result would be a dramatic reshaping of the immigration system as we know it – particularly for foreign persons who have family currently living in the United States.

 

 

Next:  ‘Elimination of the Diversity Visa Program’

What Is The 'RAISE' Act?

What Is The Proposed RAISE Act?

On August 2, 2017, President Trump promoted a new Senate Bill drafted by Senators David Perdue of Georgia and Tom Cotton of Arkansas known as the ‘RAISE’ Act.

‘RAISE’ is an acronym for “Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy” Act.

The stated purpose of the Bill is to improve the American economy by limiting the number of immigrants admitted into our country.

A perhaps more valuable use of this Bill is to ‘RAISE’ our awareness of the more fundamental underpinnings of America’s unique immigration system.  If it causes us to pause and reflect on these core principles of American identity and values, it will have served a noble purpose.

Most political observers suggest that this Bill is not likely to pass Congress; nevertheless, an analysis of this Bill gives us an opportunity to examine: ‘what would constitute a healthy immigration policy in the U.S.’?  We will leave the political discussion to those who are more knowledgeably equipped to do so; the purpose of this article is to explore what we need in immigration policy to fit the unique history and present cultural pressures of American society today.

A very strong and simple narrative upon which this Bill rests is the easily accepted notion that Americans are competing for job openings and that the addition of more immigrants would make it more difficult for Americans to get these jobs.

It is, of course, more complicated than that, but rather than debate the economic consequences of immigration – which is a fact-driven analysis that supports various dimensions on both sides of the debate – it may be even more helpful to look at the core values implicated in the Bill.  It is a point that will conclude our discussion, but to begin, it may be helpful to compare the provisions of the Bill to the current existing law.

Thus, the place to begin is the actual language in the Bill.

The Preamble of the Bill states 4 objectives:  “To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to

 

1. Establish a skills-based immigration points system,
    
2. to focus family -sponsored immigration on spouses and minor children,

     3.  to eliminate the Diversity Visa Program, [and]

 

    4.   to set a limit on the number of refugees admitted annually to the

United States, and for other purposes.”

 

We will go through each objective separately.

Today we will address the ‘skills-based immigration points system’.

 

1. Skills-Based Immigration Points System –

The first objective of the Bill is to amend the current Immigration and Nationality Act to establish a ‘skills-based immigration points system’.  The intent here is to ‘filter’ the types of persons coming to the U.S. to only those who can offer their education, skills and salary to meaningfully participate in and prosper the U.S. economy.  The immigration benefit provided is presumably a ‘green card’ – or Lawful Permanent Residency in the U.S.

Under the provisions of the Bill, a person accrues ‘points’ based upon age, education, English proficiency, extraordinary achievement and salary related to a job offer.  A person who accumulates a minimum of 30 points is eligible to be placed in an ‘Applicant Pool’ for up to one year.

An applicant calculates his or her points based upon a strong showing under the metrics of age, education, English proficiency, extraordinary achievement and salary for a job offered.

For example, a young person aged 22 – 25 accrues 8 points, while an older person, aged 41 through 45 accrues only 4 points.  Likewise, someone with a bachelor’s degree from a foreign institution is allowed 5 points, but a person with a master’s degree in the U.S. in a STEM discipline is entitled to 8 points.  The English exam is scored on ‘deciles’ where the higher the decile, the more points someone gets.

If an applicant reaches 30 points, he or she may file an application with USCIS and is placed in a ‘pool’ of other applicants and sorted on the basis of an applicant’s overall score.

Every 6 months, USCIS will invite the highest ranked applicants to file an immigrant visa petition for a visa.  There would be only 140,000 visas available each year, so the invitation will go out to a number that will be expected to result in 70,000 visas being issued for that 6 month period.

 

To assess the effectiveness of such a ‘points-based’ system, we should consider the present system in light of the Bill’s stated objective of helping the U.S. Economy.

Our present Employment-Based Visa system offers a number of different types of ‘temporary’ visas to employees with the opportunity to eventually apply for an immigrant visa – (or ‘green card’).

Types of Nonimmigrant Visas Available Under The Present System

To make this a manageable comparison, we will look only at those nonimmigrant visas that are comparable to the ‘highly-skilled’ sector contemplated by the Bill that also provide a pathway to a ‘green card’, (lawful permanent residency).

One of the most sought-after nonimmigrant visas is the ‘H-1B’ visa for foreign workers in a ‘specialty occupation’.  By legal definition, a ‘specialty occupation’ is one in which the job requires a person with at least a college bachelor’s degree in that occupational field to perform the work.  There is an annual allotment of 65,000 H-1B visas available each year. 

Another visa is an ‘L-1A’ visa for foreign employees who are either multinational executives or managers, and the ‘L-1B’ visa for foreign employees who have unique ‘specialized knowledge’ in the specific field or work required by an employer.

It is important to note that both of these require the foreign employee to work only for the employer that sponsored him or her for the visa.  Thus, the visa process is targeted to specific job openings for specific job duties that an employer needs filled.

For the H-1B visa, the demand for specific employees is so great that in the most recent fiscal year when H-1B visas were available, employers filed over 235,000 petitions for only 65,000 visas.  When one considers that the cost of filing an H-1B petition includes a $500.00 ‘Fraud Detection Fee’, and $1,500.00 ‘Education and Training Fee’ and a $460.00 ‘petition filing fee’, not to mention additional legal fees, the cost of filing an H-1B visa petition is not taken lightly.  Furthermore, the employer must show the U.S. Dept. of Labor that it will be paying the foreign worker as much as or more than American workers – (to insure that the wages of American workers are not ‘undercut’ by hiring foreign workers at lower pay).  All of these factors give an economic incentive for U.S. employers to hire U.S. workers before considering the hire of a foreign worker.  Despite these additional costs, the fact that U.S. employers still filed over 235,000 petitions with the hope of having their applications randomly chosen for processing gives a pretty clear indication of the current inability of U.S. employers to fill crucial positions in their companies.

The ‘EB-5’ visa is known as the ‘job-creation’ visa.  This specialized visa generally currently requires an investment of at least $500,000 or $1 million, (depending upon other factors) in a new commercial enterprise in the U.S. and proof that the investment will result in the creation of at least 10 full-time jobs for American Workers.

Also, in 2016, the prior Administration issued an executive order providing for ‘entrepreneurs’ who could provide a ‘significant public benefit’ by creating or maintaining a new commercial enterprise to be admitted into the U.S. to manage these investments.  The Order was purposely suited for high-tech entrepreneurs and was set to go into effect on July 17, 2017.  This executive order was ‘suspended’ by the Trump Administration on July 10^th for review and possible rescission or implementation on March 14, 2018.  

So to make a comparison between the proposed Bill’s intent to let in only 140,000 persons who reach a high score on age, education, job salary and/or extraordinary achievements, and the current system that offers employers the opportunity to seek foreign workers for specific needs, one needs to consider the benefits from an employer’s perspective.

First, one might consider whether average companies who typically utilize the H-1B, L-1A or L-1B visa programs to meet specific specialized needs would be able to compete with the largest well-sourced corporations for the top 140,000 individuals who might apply under the proposed bill.  (Remember, over the course of 5 days this past April, employers of all sizes filed over 235,000 petitions just for H-1B visas.).  Second, consider the challenge of employers planning to fill a position with the uncertainty of not knowing where a prospective employee might stand in the ‘applicant pool’, especially considering that only 70,000 visas would become available each 6-month period; (and that the family members of a successful applicant are also included in that limited number of 70,000).  It might also be useful to consider whether the top individuals who attain a high score under these metrics actually align with the specific needs of employers if they came to the U.S.  The proposed Bill does not necessarily clarify this, but presumably, a person in the ‘applicant pool’ does not necessarily have to work for a specific employer and might otherwise compete on the open marketplace for other employment. 

If the objective of the proposed Bill is to land the world’s ‘best and the brightest’ in the U.S. so that they can contribute to the American economy and possibly create new opportunities for U.S. workers, it is fair to question whether the sample of current immigration programs described above also seek the same goals.  A fair criticism of the current immigration system is that these immigration programs do a poor job of meeting these same goals.  In fact, when one considers that 2 out of every 3 H-1B petitions are rejected because there are too few visas to go around, and that many high-tech companies are moving operations to other countries because they cannot bring the world’s ‘best and brightest’ to the U.S., it is apparent that seeking creative solutions to identify and secure the highest qualifying individuals to come to the U.S. is a crucial need.  The proposed Bill helpfully exposes the flaws and limitations of our current employment-based immigration programs.

Here's hoping that the dialogue opened by the presentation of the prospective ‘RAISE’ Bill will help invigorate a bi-partisan legislative solution to our poorly functioning immigration system for U.S. employers.

 

Next:  ‘The Focus on Family-Sponsored Immigration for Spouses and Minor Children’