Please cosponsor the RAISE Act

Please cosponsor the RAISE Act to reduce immigration.

H.R. 2278, the RAISE Act, would:

  • Eliminate Outdated Diversity Visa Lottery: The Lottery is plagued with fraud, it advances no economic or humanitarian interest, and it does not even deliver the diversity of its namesake. The RAISE Act would eliminate the 50,000 visas arbitrarily allocated to this lottery;
  • Place Responsible Limit on Permanent Residency for Refugees: The RAISE Act would limit refugees offered permanent residency to 50,000 per year, in line with a 13-year average; (This is the same annual refugee cap in Pres. Trump’s executive order.)
  • Prioritize Immediate Family Households. The RAISE Act would retain immigration preferences for the spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents; and
  • Create Temporary Visa for Parents in Need of Caretaking: For U.S. citizens who wish to bring elderly parents in need of care-taking to the United States, the RAISE Act creates a renewable temporary visa on the condition that the parents are not permitted to work, cannot access public benefits, and must be guaranteed support and health insurance by their sponsoring children. 

Because family-based migration would be limited to spouses and minor children, the following visa categories would be eliminated:

  • Adult parents of U.S. citizens;
  • Adult brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens;
  • Unmarried adult children of U.S. citizens; 
  • Married adult children of U.S. citizens; and
  • Unmarried adult children of legal permanent residents.

Passing the RAISE Act would fulfill several of the recommendations of the bipartisan Jordan Commission on Immigration Reform by making immigration serve the national interest and ensuring that American workers are not harmed by immigration. Please cosponsor and help to pass this legislation so that less-educated and lower-skilled Americans have a good chance of finding work and a decent wage.

Greg Raven, Apple Valley, CA

Author: Greg Raven

I am deeply concerned about quality of life issues.