RantCrush Top 5: February 9, 2017

It is already very difficult to immigrate to the United States. But now two Republican Senators, Tom Cotton and David Perdue, have proposed a bill to cut in half the number of legal immigrants allowed in the next 10 years. Under this bill, parents, siblings, and adult children of U.S. citizens would no longer have preference for green cards. The green card lottery system would be abandoned and the number of special skills visas issued would also be significantly reduced, even though they are already limited. This could have a big impact on fields like medicine and technology. Cotton argued that legal immigration has cut wages for working Americans. But Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen didn’t agree. “As a nation of immigrants, this bill runs counter to our values,” she said. Cotton didn’t think families being separated by the new law would be a problem. He said that is looking “at it the wrong way. What’s good for the foreigner, not what’s good for the American citizen.”

Two GOP senators want to halve the number of people allowed to live as legal U.S. permanent residents https://t.co/dNUwcgeHOH via @Reuters

— Pacific Standard (@PacificStand) February 7, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.