Amid several sweeping changes to the US immigration rules, Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville has introduced new legislation seeking to end Green Card lottery and employment-based Green Cards. This is just legislation and many such pieces of legislation are proposed regularly by lawmakers, which never see the light of day.The Americans First Immigration Act, introduced by the Alabama Republican on September 24, would require employers seeking to hire foreign workers to first recruit US workers and certify that the foreign hire would not displace an American worker. The bill was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
What happens to employment-based Green cards?
Under the proposal, the existing employment-based immigrant visa categories would be replaced with a points-based programme. Applicants would earn points for factors including education, English-language proficiency, high-paying US job offers, military service and extraordinary achievement.The legislation intends to move away from the current employment-based Green Card structure and instead assess applicants according to a set of merit-based criteria.The bill also proposes a new employer-attestation system. Employers would have to show that they made good-faith efforts to recruit US workers and offered the position to a US worker who was equally or better qualified. They would also have to attest that they had not laid off a US worker from an essentially equivalent job during the specified period before hiring the foreign worker.Employers that violate the requirements could face civil penalties. The bill provides for penalties of up to $5,000 for certain violations, $25,000 for each willful violation and $50,000 when a willful violation results in a US worker being laid off. A pattern or practice of noncompliance could also trigger criminal penalties.
Green Card lottery would end
One of the bill’s major proposals is the elimination of the Diversity Immigrant Visa programme, commonly known as the Green Card lottery. The program currently makes a limited number of immigrant visas available through a lottery to people from countries with historically lower levels of immigration to the US.Tuberville’s bill would replace that system with a merit-based approach. His office said the proposal would reward factors such as skills, education, English proficiency and high-value job offers rather than selection by lottery.Family immigration would be sharply narrowedUnder the proposal, family-sponsored immigration would be limited to the immediate or “nuclear” family, specifically spouses and minor children. This would eliminate several existing categories through which US citizens and lawful permanent residents can sponsor other relatives.
