08.02.17
RAISE Act Endorsed by Trump

On August 2, 2017, President Trump endorsed a bill that aims to limit legal immigration to the United States. The proposed Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment Act ("RAISE") was initially introduced in April 2017. If implemented, the bill would change the existing process for legal immigration by limiting the number of immigrants entering the United States to 500,000 per year. It would also grant permanent residence on the basis of merit. This system would give preference to highly-skilled English-speaking immigrants and limit family-based preference immigration categories. Under this proposed bill, U.S. citizens and Legal Permanent Residents would not be able to petition for their adult children, and U.S. citizens would not be able to petition for their siblings. In addition, the proposed bill would limit the number of refugees allowed to enter the United States to 50,000 per year and end the diversity visa lottery program.

Please note that this is only a proposed bill and there has not been any immediate changes to the existing immigration laws. We expect this bill to face some strong resistance when it comes to a vote. For now, if you have any immigration concerns, please contact an immigration attorney to discuss the particulars of your case. This information has been provided for informational purposes only by Clark Lau LLC.