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.
- 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’
