The RAISE Act Is Cruel and Un-American

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 28, 2017

CONTACT
Email: [email protected]
Juan Gastelum, 213-375-3149
Hayley Burgess, 202-384-1279

The RAISE Act Is Cruel and Un-American

WASHINGTON — Senators David Perdue (R-GA) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) presented legislation to President Trump today that proposes radically reducing legal immigration to the United States, reversing decades of well-established policy that prioritizes family-based legal immigration.

Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, issued the following statement:

“The Republican Party continues to double down on the execution of President Trump’s white nationalist blueprint for America. The RAISE Act is their latest extremist proposal that would cut legal immigration levels by half. This is a radical and alarming departure from America’s longstanding history of welcoming and embracing the diversity and family reunification values that give us our moral and economic advantage in the world.

“The bill would devastate families, eliminating the traditional and long-accepted means by which family members such as grandparents, mothers, fathers, and siblings are able to reunite with their families who have emigrated to the United States. An emphasis on so-called ‘merit-based’ immigration is a manipulative and misleading ploy that inaccurately suggests less legal immigration means more jobs for American workers. Economists from both sides of the political spectrum clearly and consistently reject this. The economic consequences and impact on American families would be devastating.

“The truth is that this is just another one of the Republican Party’s sinister attacks on immigrants. It is yet another move made to dismantle our national identity.”

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