--- title: Donald Trump: Immigration Bill Would Cut It in Half description: President Trump endorsed a bill which would reduce the number of family members legal residents can bring into the country. canonical: https://time.com/4884914/immigration-raise-act-white-house/ author: Emma Talkoff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-02T21:08:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:26:59.715Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here's How the White House Would Cut Legal Immigration in Half og:description: It would favor high-skilled and English-speaking applicants. og:url: https://time.com/4884914/immigration-raise-act-white-house/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d02658fbf3ec727/6988d83bbc6cfc8d3e3e2800/trump-immigration.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5274 og:image:height: 2967 og:image:alt: Donald Trump, Tom Cotton, David Perdue og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's How the White House Would Cut Legal Immigration in Half twitter:description: It would favor high-skilled and English-speaking applicants. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d02658fbf3ec727/6988d83bbc6cfc8d3e3e2800/trump-immigration.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's How the White House Would Cut Legal Immigration in Half > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=757c4420-de80-4c2b-b9e4-fc54616fe234&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: White House: Statue of Liberty Doesn't Represent U.S. Immigration Policy [Watch (HLS stream): White House: Statue of Liberty Doesn't Represent U.S. Immigration Policy](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Jr1a4tYu.m3u8) (6:37)  _Published 2017-08-02. A key White House aide staunchly defended the immigration reform bill backed by the White House Wednesday, at one point arguing that the poem inscribed on the State of Liberty doesn't encapsulate the country's values on this issue._ by [Emma Talkoff](https://time.com/author/emma-talkoff/) ## Emma Talkoff Aug 2, 2017 9:08 PM UTC by [Emma Talkoff](https://time.com/author/emma-talkoff/) ## Emma Talkoff Aug 2, 2017 9:08 PM UTC President Trump [announced](https://www.c-span.org/video/?432076-1/president-backs-gop-senators-skilledbased-immigration-bill) his support for a bill to cut legal immigration in half by 2027. Flanked by Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and David Perdue of Georgia, Trump endorsed a bill they co-authored which would reduce the number of family members American citizens and legal residents can bring into the country and favor English-speaking and skilled workers. “This legislation demonstrates our compassion for struggling American families who deserve an immigration system that puts their needs first and that puts America first,” he said. Trump has long called for a crackdown on illegal immigration, but his stance on legal immigration has been [much less clear](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/which-side-donald-trump-fight-over-legal-immigration-n717371). In May, he told The Economist that he [supports legal immigration](https://www.economist.com/Trumptranscript) and was not looking to reduce the numbers. Some Republican senators have already voiced skepticism about the plan. “They want to cut back significantly on legal immigration and I don’t think that’s wise,” said Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake. “I think we ought to continue to be a welcoming nation.” Sen. Lindsey Graham said in a statement today that he opposes the proposed cap, saying it would be [“devastating”](http://www.postandcourier.com/politics/lindsey-graham-says-trump-s-immigration-proposal-would-be-devastating/article%5Fa28a1a52-77b0-11e7-aba1-bbb38f874191.html) to South Carolina’s economy, which “relies on this immigrant workforce.” Called the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment Act or RAISE Act, the bill would limit family members who can apply for green card status to only spouses and minor children and streamline merit-based application in an attempt to limit the immigrant pool to only the most skilled and educated applicants. It would also eliminate the Diversity Visa Lottery and limit residency offers for refugees. According to details from the [February proposal](https://www.cotton.senate.gov/?p=press%5Frelease&id=603), if enacted, the plan would reduce legal immigration to around 500,000 people a year by a decade from now, down by half from just over a million in 2015\. Proponents from immigration reform groups argue that the bill would reduce burdens on taxpayers by limiting the number of unskilled workers who enter the country, and “imbue our system with some meritocracy,” said Ira Mehlman, media director at the Federation for American Immigration Reform. Opponents were sharply critical of the proposal, however. Jeremy Robbins, executive director at the immigration think tank New American Economy, says that while encouraging skilled immigrants is a step in the right direction economically, reducing overall numbers is not. “Virtually every economist who looks at this is going to find that immigration is good for the economy,” Robbins said. And while Trump and the bill’s advocates in Congress frequently point out that the proposed merit system takes some cues from Canada and Australia, where a similar point system is used, those systems don’t apply comparable caps on family immigration. That discrepancy would weaken RAISE’s economic benefits, according to Robbins. “There’s a lot to admire about their systems, but that’s not in the bill,” he said. Frank Sharry, executive director of the immigration reform group America’s Voice, said that the family cap would disproportionately affect Asian American immigrants, who tend to utilize the more varied existing green card categories, while elimination of the Diversity Lottery will disproportionately hurt African American and Caribbean immigrants who benefit from the measure. Mark Krikorian, executive director of the pro-immigration reform Center for Immigration Studies said that even if the bill doesn’t make it through a belabored Congress, it’s a step in the right direction. “You’ve got to start somewhere, and this is a really good start even if it doesn’t end up being enacted into law by this Congress,” he said. ## Transcript What your proposing or what the president's proposing here does not sound like it's in keeping with American tradition when it comes to immigration. The statue of liberty says, give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, [ UNKNOWN ] Doesn't say anything about speaking English or be a computer programmer. Aren't you trying to. Change what it means to be an immigrant coming into this country, if you're telling them you have to speak English? Can't people learn to speak English when they get here? First of all, right now, it's a requirement that to be naturalized, you had to speak English. So the notion that speaking English wouldn't be a part of our immigration systems, it would actually be very ahistorical. Secondly, I don't want to get off into a whole thing about history here, but the Statue of Liberty is a symbol of liberty enlightening the world. It's a symbol of American liberty lighting the world. The poem that you're referring to was added later, it's not actually part of the original Statue of Liberty. But more fundamentally, the history You're saying that that is not but, more fundamentally, the history I'm saying-- When the country has always thought of [ CROSSTALK ]? I'm saying the notion-- Stephen. I'm sorry. That sounds like some national park revisionism. [ LAUGH ] No, what I'm asking is-- The Statue of Liberty has always been a beacon of hope to the world for people to [ UNKNOWN ] and they're not always going to speak English, Steven, they're not always Jim. Jim. Jim. [ CROSSTALK ] Be highly skilled they're not always should be somebody- Jim, Jim, Jim, I appreciate your speech, Jim, I appreciate your speech so let's talk about this. No it was a modest- Jim, let's talk about this. In 1970, when we let in 3, 00. 000 people a year, was that violating or not violating the statue of Liberty law of the land? In 1990's when it was half a million a year was that a violating or not violating the statue of Liberty law of the land? Was it violating. Was it violating the statute of liberty [ CROSSTALK ] When it was 700 thousand year, tell me what years meet Jim Acosta definition of the statue of liberty poem law of the land. Is the Statue of Liberty number, nine hundred thousand violates, eight hundred thousand violates it . >> You're sort of bringing a press one for English philosophy here . >> Jim. Jim . >> To immigration and that's not what the United States has been about . >> But you're statements also shocking historical in another respect too, which is if you look at the history of immigration It's actually ebbed and flowed. We've had periods of very large waves, followed by periods of less immigration and more immigration. And during the- We're in a period of immigration right now. Do you want us to build a wall, or do you want to bring about a sweeping change to the immigration- Surely, Jim, you don't actually think that a wall affects green card policy. You couldn't possible believe that do you? Actually the notion that you actually think immigration is at a historic low. The foreign born population in the United States today [ CROSS TALK ] Jim. Jim. > The new Chief of Staff on monday, talking about how border crossing [ CROSSTALK ] > Do you really, I want to be serious Jim, do you really at CNN not know the difference. Between green card policy and illegal immigration, I mean, you really don't know that? [ INAUDIBLE ] Cuban immigrant. He came to this country in 1962 right before the Cuban Missile Crisis and obtained a green card. Yes, people who immigrate to this country should eventually- So Jim, it's a factual question Jim. Not through asylum, through [ INAUDIBLE ]. Jim, as a factual question Do obtain a green card at some point, they do it through a lot of hard work. And yes, they may learn English as a second language later on in life. But this whole notion of well they have to learn English before they get to the United States, are we just gonna bring in people from Great Britain and Australia. Jim actually I have to honestly say I am shocked At your statement, that you think that only people from Great Britain and Australia would know English. It reveals your cosmopolitan bias to a shocking degree, that in your mind, no, this is an amazing moment. This is an amazing moment. That you think only people from Great Britain or Australia would speak English is so insulting to millions of hardworking immigrants who do speak English from all over the world. Jim, have you honestly never met an immigrant from another country who speaks English outside of Great Britain and Australia? Is that your personal experience? Of course there are people who come into this country from other parts- But that's not what you said. And it shows your cosmopolitan bias. And I just wanna say- Engineer the racial and ethnic flow of people into this country. Yeah, that is one of the most outrageous, insulting, ignorant, and foolish things you've ever said. And for you, the notion that you think that this is a racist bill is so wrong and so insulting. Jim. The reality is that the foreign born population into our country has quadrupled since 1970. That's a fact. It's been mostly driven by Green Card policy. Now, this bill allows for immediate nuclear family members to come into the country much as they would today. And then it adds an additional points based system. The people that have been hurt the most-- [ UNKNOWN ] The people who've been hurt the most by the polls that you're advocating-- What policy am I advocating? Apparently just unfettered, uncontrolled migration. The people who've been hurt the most by the policy-- [ CROSSTALK ] The people that are hurt the most by the policy that you're. The people that have been hurt the policy you're advocating. Are immigrant workers and minority workers, and African American workers and Hispanic workers. Are you targeting African American communities. You brought it up again. You said you wanted to have a conversation and not target. What we wanna do African- American community are you going to target? I'm not trying to be funny. Right, I know. What you're saying is 100 % correct. We want to help unemployed African- Americans in this country and unemployed workers of all backgrounds get jobs. And insinuations like Jim made, trying to ascribe nefarious motives To a compassion immigration measure designed to help newcomers and current arrivals alike is wrong and this is a positive optimistic proposal that says 10 years, 20 years, 30 years from now. Ignorant. Ten years, 20 years, 30 years from now, we want to have an immigration system that takes care of the people who are coming here, and the people who are already living here, by having standards. By having a real clear requirement that you be able to support yourself financially, by making sure that employers can pay A living wage. That's the right policy for our country, and it's the president's commitment to taking care of American workers. I apologize Jim if things got heated, but you did make some pretty rough insinuations. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 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