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The Trump administration is working with two senators on a bill that would restrict and revamp some of the legal avenues for immigrating to the United States, sources confirm to CNN, but the bill remains a long way from potential passage in Congress.

The bill from Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and David Perdue of Georgia was introduced in February but will be re-introduced with some changes, Cottons office confirmed.

The original version of the bill cut back on whats referred to as chain migration, ways of immigrating to the United States that are based on family or not based on skills. The bill would limit the types of family members of immigrants that can also be brought to the US to primarily spouses and minor children, would eliminate the international diversity visa lottery and limit the number of annual refugee admissions.

An administration official characterized the discussions as one of many efforts to work with lawmakers on potential pieces of immigration reform. Politico was first to report the talks.

The over-arching goal for the Cotton-Perdue bill, the official said, is to install a system where immigrants are allowed into the country based on their skills and contributions, as opposed to familial connections or a lottery.

The bottom line here is that the President believes we should have a merit-based system of immigration in this country, the official told CNN. What the merit-based system would do is bring our immigration policy more in line with whats good for American workers and taxpayers, so thats the overarching goal, and that Im sure is the driving force behind talks with Congress and these senators.

The official acknowledged that it remains to be seen whether the White House goes all in to support a final version of the bill, which faces an uphill climb in Congress.

I think were a long ways away, the official said.

The President spoke about a desire for comprehensive immigration reform while flying to Paris Wednesday night as well.

What Id like to do is a comprehensive immigration plan. But our country and political forces are not ready yet, Trump told reporters.

Perdue and Cottons offices both confirmed the senators continue to work on the RAISE Act but wouldnt elaborate on details.

While a move to end chain migration was part of the ill-fated Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform bill that passed the Senate but died in the House in 2013, that bill was loaded with other side deals that helped pave the way for passage.

To me its more of almost a political discussion vs. actual enactment or trying to enact policy, said former Bush administration Homeland Security deputy James Norton, who now works as a strategist.

Rosemary Jenks, the vice president and director of government relations for NumbersUSA, a group that advocates limited legal immigration and supports the RAISE Act, said her group stands ready to support it, she said, but still lacks a clear feel for where the administration wants to go.

(Were) feeling a little bit more optimistic about some of them and pushing forward that much harder because it appears there may be an opportunity here and if there is, we want to be ready for it, Jenks said.

In addition to the difficulty of building a bill that works for the many constituencies represented in both parties, the Senate calendar has proven daunting for lawmakers this year, who are still struggling to pass an Obamacare repeal bill, need to extend government funding by the end of September, hope to pass tax reform and need to pass a defense authorization.

A nasty fight over immigration reform could also scuttle efforts to pass government funding that includes money for Trumps border wall.

It has momentum in the sense that there are definitely people who have been working on immigration since day one, Norton said, but I think in terms of active legislation I think it has a very difficult road for it to go down to become law.

Read more here:
White House working with senators on immigration limits - Gant Daily

As Republicans in the Senate stumble and fumble with their long-promised but never seriously planned repeal of Obamacare, the Trump administration is starting to leak its plans for what counts as ambitious immigration reform.

And its not all bad. The bill that the White House has in mind is based on the RAISE Act, introduced by Senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue earlier this year. The giant headline measure is that the bill would cut in half the number of legal immigrants. The detail buried in paragraph 18 of most reports on it is that the bill will do this only after a decade of slowly lowering it to that level.

The biggest and most welcome change is that the proposal would begin to shift American immigration policy away from family-based chain migration and toward a merit-based system, with increased numbers of green cards available for qualified workers. Trumps proposal would also discourage sanctuary-city policies. Idlove to discuss this bill on the merits, but this isnt the first or last time Trump will make us talk about a policy that is never likely to become law. This White House has never had a strong influence on Capitol Hill, and its sway is weakening almost every day. Republicans in the Senate are struggling to deliver on a seven-year promise to repeal Obamacare, and they made no such promise on passing restrictionist legislation. Trumps insurgent-style campaign meant that many Republican lawmakers felt no particular loyalty to Trumps signature policy ideas or issues. And every day that the president is making headline headaches with his tweets, or with new revelations about his campaigns connection to the Russians, the passage of a bill like this becomes an even more remote possibility.

The Trump administration was always going to have a hard time selling a bill that reduced overall rates of immigration into America. Consider where Republican lawmakers were on comprehensive reform in 2013. Many Republican senators voted for a bill that would have tripled the rate of legal immigration into the U.S. in perpetuity. Although it was advertised as an enforcement first policy, the CBO estimated that the proposed 2013 measures would reduce the rate of illegal immigration into America by just 25 percent over the next two decades. The only consequence of failing to secure the border in the 2013 bill was the eventual creation of a committee of bureaucrats to make more recommendations. This was the political reality before Trump and since his election weve seen a major legal, media, and political blowback against Trumps temporary travel ban.

Someday people will look back on this time of mass immigration into America, from the 1970s to now, and wonder how it was that the language of humanitarianism was so easily and cheaply deployed to subordinate the very concepts of political community, democratic checks, and even the rule of law itself to the demands of employers. They will find perverse the way that progressives and unscrupulous employers worked in tandem to create a class of millions of legally vulnerable people who are unable to stand up to employers and afraid to call the police when they are abused. The truth is that American policymakers valued low-wage labor more than they valued any of our professed political values.

But that reckoning will not begin any time soon. The fact of Trumps election has moved the political center back toward sanity on immigration issues and away from open borders. But the fact of Trumps character means we are not substantially closer to getting sensible immigration reform passed. He is wasting political capital almost every day.

And there may be long-term damage as well. Even restrictionists like me have to admit that Trump has been ugly and demagogic on this issue. He has criticized judges for their ethnicity; hes tarred millions of immigrants as felons. Because he commands the loyalty of the Republican base, he has made the Republican style of partisanship more like his own on this issue. This is setting the sober work of policy-making behind.

Western Europe and the United States are both slowly coming to understand that the psychological and financial costs of migration are falling and emigration to the West is becoming a more attractive option to more people across the world. Trumps election was an acknowledgement of this reality. But his administration is currently an obstacle in the way of doing something intelligent about it.

Michael Brendan Dougherty is a senior writer at National Review.

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Trump's Admirable but Unlikely Goals on Immigration - National Review

According to the latest numbers, North Texas housing prices are up 8 percent over last year. That sounds like great news for home builders. Yet,Phil Crone of the Dallas Builders Association went to the nations capital last month to make a desperate plea for immigration reform.

In our Friday Conversation, Crone talked about the link between immigration policy and soaring house prices with Rick Holter.

Listen to the KERA Friday Conversation.

Interview Highlights: Phil Crone

On the link between housing and immigration: The two of them are linked because its basic supply and demand. You are seeing about 100,000 jobs moving here. I always tell people homes are where the jobs sleeps at night. And when you see that kind of demand, the corresponding demand comes for your workforce, and a lot of our workforce comes from areas outside of the U.S., in Mexico in particular. We need those folks. Theyre essential to get the job done in the residential construction industry.

Were about 18,000 to 20,000 workers short in D-FW area, and I would argue that makes the shortage as bad here as anywhere in the country right now. The biggest thing driving the increased pricing is the lack of labor. We did a survey of our members, and on average, they said that the labor shortage alone is adding about $4,000 and about two months to every project.

"We're about 18,000 to 20,000 workers short in D-FW area."

On his trip to Washington and potential solutions: Talking to some of the area representatives and members of Congress from the Dallas area, they understand it, and they were certainly vocal in the meetings that we had about the undue distractions and inability to get the job done. And this is one of the jobs they would like to do if Congress could kind of coalesce around an idea that makes sense. And for our industry, that idea would be a guest worker program that takes into account the demand thats here.

Hopefully, there can be some programs that are set up to incentivize these folks maybe to get licenses and maybe get on the path to becoming a citizen here. Its certainly not an amnesty program that were talking about, but there should be a pathway for some of the people who are coming here and finding some good opportunities and really contributing to our economy and would all be people who wed love to have stay here.

Phil Crone is the executive office of the Dallas Builders Association.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Link:
Dallas Builders Are Pushing For Immigration Reform. Why? They Need More Workers. - KERA News

Washington: President Donald Trump told reporters aboard the Air Force One that the conditions are not in place for a thorough overhaul of the US immigration system.

"What I'd like to do is a comprehensive immigration plan. But our country and political forces are not ready yet... There are two sides of a story. It's always tough," he said in what was originally supposed to be an off-the-record session with journalists accompanying him on a visit to France.

File image of US president Donald Trump. AP

The White House subsequently authorised media outlets to report the President's comments later on Thursday, reports Efe news.

His statement on immigration reform came in response to a question about the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme, established by predecessor Barack Obama to shield hundreds of thousands of undocumented youths from deportation.

Trump said he has not made a decision over the DACA, while emphasising that he and not his subordinates would make the final determination.

"It's a decision that I make and it's a decision that's very very hard to make. I really understand the situation now," he said.

Last month, the Department of Homeland Security said that DACA would remain in effect for the time being, though Texas and a number of other states have threatened to sue the federal government if the program is not ended by 5 September.

On the related matter of his plan for a wall on the US-Mexican border, Trump said that his remarks about installing solar panels on the structure had not been in jest.

"We have major companies looking at that. Look, there's no better place for solar than the Mexico border the southern border. And there is a very good chance we can do a solar wall, which would actually look good," he said.

The president said the wall needs to be transparent for the safety of people on the US side.

"And I'll give you an example. As horrible as it sounds, when they throw the large sacks of drugs over, and if you have people on the other side of the wall, you don't see them they hit you on the head with 60 pounds of stuff? It's over. As crazy as that sounds, you need transparency through that wall," Trump said.

He also suggested that the barrier would not have to extend the entire length of the 2,000-mile border.

"Remember this, it's a 2,000-mile border, but you don't need 2,000 miles of a wall because you have a lot of natural barriers. You have mountains. You have some rivers that are violent and vicious. You have some areas that are so far away that you don't really have people crossing. So you don't need that. But you'll need anywhere from 700 to 900 miles," he added.

See the original post:
United States not ready for comprehensive immigration reform: Donald Trump - Firstpost

President Donald Trump indicated he may support amnesty when talking to reporters aboard Air Force One Wednesday night.

The president was asked about Secretary of Homeland Security John Kellys comments to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus that President Obamas amnesty for illegal immigrants who arrived as minors, DACA, might be terminated due to legal challenges from Republican states.

Its a decision that I make and its a decision thats very very hard to make.I really understand the situation now,President Trumpreplied. I understand the situation very well. What Id like to do is a comprehensive immigration plan. But our country and political forces are not ready yet.

Comprehensive immigration reform is used in modern American politics as a euphemism for giving illegal immigrants currently in the U.S. a path to legal status or citizenship.

During his run for the presidency, Trump took a hardline stance on immigration and pledged to deport all 12 million or so illegal immigrants in the country. He also said he would immediately end DACA.

However, he has reneged on this promise, and in his first few months in office nearly 100,000 illegal immigrants benefited from the amnesty program.

Trumpadded, There are two sides of a story. Its always tough.

See the original post here:
Trump Backs 'Comprehensive Immigration' Reform - The Daily Caller