President Trump Seeks to Transform U.S. Immigration Policies

The president is joining members of the Senate in a push for a radical overhaul of the nation’s legal immigration policies. Trump gave his support to a bill proposed by Sens. Tom Cotton and David Perdue that would eliminate the green card lottery and drastically reduce the number of visas granted to family members. Ted Mann explains in the Wall Street Journal:

President Donald Trump on Wednesday embraced a Senate proposal to cut the number of green cards issued annually by half, as part of his drive to reduce legal as well as illegal immigration into the U.S.

The measure, sponsored by Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and David Perdue of Georgia, would maintain the existing number of employment-based green cards issued each year, but would sharply reduce immigration based on family ties, and it would end a lottery that gives people from underrepresented countries a chance to emigrate to the U.S

Anti-immigration organizations praised the bill on Wednesday. The proposal “will do more than any other action to fulfill President Trump’s promises as a candidate to create an immigration system that puts the interests of American workers first,” said Roy Beck, president of NumbersUSA, which supports reduced immigration, in a written statement.