President Donald Trump and his administration have been quietly collaborating with two conservative Senators in a bid to dramatically cut back the amount of legal immigration to the US and fulfill one of the biggest promises of last year’s Presidential election campaign.
Trump intends to support a new bill that Arkansas Senator, Tom Cotton, and Georgia Senator, David Perdue, both Republicans, plan to introduce later in the summer. If the new bill were to become law, the number of legal immigrants given permission to enter the US would be halved by the year 2027, according to insiders. At the moment, around a million legal immigrants enter the US every year. This figure will fall to 500,000 over the next ten years if the new bill is enacted.
The senators have joined forces with senior White House official, Stephen Miller, who is well known for his tough immigration stance. The issue is also a priority for the President’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon. The new bill is an expanded and revised version of legislation that the same two senators revealed in February, referred to as the RAISE Act. The bill was discussed with Trump in March, with the President approving of it even then.
Lawmakers on either side of the political divide have acknowledged the need to be tougher on illegal immigration, but even among Republicans limiting legal immigration is a rather more controversial proposition – it is uncertain whether such controversial legislation can succeed.