Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville has introduced legislation that would significantly change the US legal immigration system, including eliminating the Diversity Visa Lottery, restricting several family-based routes to permanent residence and replacing existing employment-based green card categories with a points-based system.
The Americans First Immigration Act would end green card eligibility for parents of US citizens and several other family categories while introducing a new employment-based system that would assess applicants based on factors including salary, education, English proficiency, age, military service and extraordinary achievement.’
The Senate bill, introduced by Tuberville of Alabama, follows a House version introduced in April by Republican Representative Barry Moore of Alabama and co-sponsored by Representatives Glenn Grothman, Wesley Hunt and Troy Nehls. The Senate version retains the broad structure of the House proposal but includes changes to immigration attestations, employer penalties and transition rules for people already in the immigration system.
Tuberville said the legislation would change how the US evaluates legal immigrants.
“Our current immigration system does little to evaluate the type of people we let in—it’s a free-for-all,” Tuberville said in a news release. “Coming to the United States is a privilege, and we need to ensure that anyone immigrating to our country is willing to go by our laws and contribute to our society.”
Diversity Visa Lottery
The bill would eliminate the Diversity Visa Lottery and bar diversity visas from being issued after the legislation is enacted.
It would instead establish an annual allocation of 3,000 immigrant visas for religious workers.
Family Immigration
The proposal would remove parents from the immediate-relative category for US citizens, leaving spouses and children in that category.
It would also eliminate several existing family-preference categories. The remaining family-sponsored category would cover spouses and children of lawful permanent residents.
The changes could affect people already in the immigration system. Pending petitions in affected family categories could not be approved, while people whose petitions had been approved before enactment would be subject to transition rules limiting the number of visas that could still be issued.
Under current law, parents of US citizens aged at least 21 are classified as immediate relatives and are not subject to the annual numerical limits that apply to family-preference categories.
New Employment-Based Green Card System
The bill would replace the existing employment-based green card categories with a competitive points system, starting with an annual worldwide allocation of 192,000 visas.
Applicants would need a US job offer, at least 16 points, an English proficiency score in at least the fifth decile and would generally have to be aged between 18 and 51 when applying.
The minimum salary would generally be 200 per cent of the median wage in the state where the applicant would work. For applicants who have received, or are about to receive, certain degrees from US institutions, the threshold would be 150 per cent.
The Department of Homeland Security would rank eligible applicants according to their points.
Applicants could receive points for higher salaries, certain US STEM doctorates or medical degrees, English proficiency, age, qualifying military service and extraordinary achievement.
Employer Requirements
Employers would have to demonstrate that they had first sought US workers and offer the position to an American applicant who was equally or better qualified.
Employers would also face restrictions on laying off US workers in essentially equivalent positions.
Civil penalties could reach $25,000 for a willful violation and $50,000 when a willful violation resulted in a US worker being laid off. A pattern or practice of noncompliance could result in a fine of at least $250,000, up to six months in prison, or both.
Conditional Green Cards
Immigrants selected through the proposed points system, along with qualifying spouses and children, would initially receive conditional permanent residence.
During the two-year conditional period, the principal immigrant could lose that status for reasons including receiving a means-tested public benefit, certain criminal convictions or failing to maintain the required level of employment.
The loss of status could also affect dependent spouses and children.
The legislation would additionally require covered immigrants to sign a “Protection of American Values” attestation addressing constitutional principles and involvement in specified conduct, including genocide, persecution, honour killing, sexual assault, domestic violence and female genital mutilation.
Senate Changes to House Proposal
The Senate version expands the attestation requirements compared with the House bill and includes sexual assault and domestic violence among the specified conduct.
It also raises the maximum penalty for a willful employer-attestation violation from $15,000 to $25,000 and adds a criminal penalty for a pattern or practice of noncompliance.
The House version allows DHS to award between 10 and 50 points for extraordinary ability at its discretion, while the Senate proposal sets the award at 25 points.
The Senate bill also removes a House provision that would have explicitly allowed DHS to waive certain interviews required to remove conditions on permanent residence.
Under the Senate proposal, the replacement of existing employment-based categories would generally be delayed until the first day of the first fiscal year after enactment.
The legislation would also require certain immigrants who are not lawful permanent residents to pay postsecondary institutions at least the amount charged to comparable out-of-state students for tuition, fees and other costs. Institutions violating the requirement could lose approval for covered foreign students seeking to enter the US for a full course of study for five years.
Broader Immigration Changes
The proposal comes as the Trump administration has separately pursued changes to legal and humanitarian immigration, including suspending most refugee admissions, reducing the refugee ceiling and increasing scrutiny of some green card applicants.
The administration has also rescinded the Biden-era public charge regulation and expanded the factors immigration officers may consider when determining whether certain applicants are likely to become dependent on government benefits.
Representative Barry Moore, who sponsored the House version, said the bill would prioritise American workers and merit-based immigration.
“My bill draws a hard line—the days of putting illegals, random diversity lotteries, and foreign labor ahead of American workers are over,” Moore said in a press release.
The legislation faces an uncertain path in Congress.
The House left Washington on September 16 for its pre-election recess and is not expected to resume regular legislative business until after the November 3 midterm elections.
Republicans currently hold narrow majorities in both chambers. The House has 218 Republicans, 214 Democrats and one independent, with two vacancies. The Senate has 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two independents who caucus with Democrats.
The bill would therefore need to advance through Congress and receive presidential approval before its proposed changes could become law.