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RAISE Act - Immigration Reform

Wingpin

Wingpin

Active Member
Has anyone looked into this Raise (Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment) Act? It seeks to eliminate the diversity visa program entirely.

What stage is the bill in now? What is the likelihood of it passing? I don't know enough about US law to understand the process of a bill passing? Would be great if someone could explain.

Copy of the bill can be found here:
http://static.politico.com/ad/1b/a981934c4278bfef730dc51b341b/raise-act-bill-text.pdf
 
Wingpin said:
Has anyone looked into this Raise (Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment) Act? It seeks to eliminate the diversity visa program entirely.

What stage is the bill in now? What is the likelihood of it passing? I don't know enough about US law to understand the process of a bill passing? Would be great if someone could explain.

Copy of the bill can be found here:
http://static.politico.com/ad/1b/a981934c4278bfef730dc51b341b/raise-act-bill-text.pdf
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This is proposal bill in initial stages and will require further support from Republicans and some Democrats in the senate. Probably others with more expertise can jump in and share their knowledge on this topic. In the case the DV Lottery is eliminated, it will take sometime for this to happen.
 
As @Pierre82 said, it would take a long time for this thing to get through. And it's a dumb bill to begin with, so I expect it will have alot of opposition. from both sides.
 
EmilyW said:
As @Pierre82 said, it would take a long time for this thing to get through. And it's a dumb bill to begin with, so I expect it will have alot of opposition. from both sides.
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May I ask what you think is dumb about it? I haven't seen much more than what's been posted in summary, have not read all the details , but I think the provisions as I've seen them (mainly, cutting back on the ridiculously wide definition of family allowed to piggyback on a citizen) makes sense. It would make more sense however if they increased immigration on a skills basis, which as far as I can see isn't included.
 
I think the bill is like using an armored tank to carry the grocery shopping home.

I don't disagree with the restrictions on chain migration, but I also don't think it's a bill that should get legs UNLESS it forms part of more comprehensive immigration reform.
 
EmilyW said:
I think the bill is like using an armored tank to carry the grocery shopping home.

I don't disagree with the restrictions on chain migration, but I also don't think it's a bill that should get legs UNLESS it forms part of more comprehensive immigration reform.
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To me it looks like a sneak way to get the restrictions on refugees in. Apart from that I don't really have an issue with what they want to limit, it makes sense to me but yes it does look like it's just closing off avenues without examining what immigrants the US actually wants to attract.
 
The reason I'm worried is that some of their arguments in favour of the bill are rather sensible. They want to shift more towards entry though work merit as in, prioritising those with education and qualifications, akin to the points system in Canada and Australia. That means cutting back significantly on the family visas and removing the diversity visa completely.

It is sensible BUT it destroys the magic and opportunity that people have felt about the US. The reason the DV lottery is so enticing is in part because it's unique to the US and not available anywhere else.

And, what of all those people who have been in the immigration wait list for years?
 
Wingpin said:
And, what of all those people who have been in the immigration wait list for years?
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They'll be grandfathered in.

Also, the DV program has actually not been around that long in the big scheme of things - maybe 20 years? It was never the main avenue for making it to the US for the American dream in terms of either length of availability or number of visas. I do like the idea behind DV, and it will be sad to see it go, but at the same time taking away the extended family visas will automatically reduce the concentration of immigration from particular countries...
 
SusieQQQ and members,
Does the bill state explicitly that exisiting petitions will be grandfathered or it is applicable only for new petitions.

Thanks
 
Just heard now Sean Spicer mentioning the bill in his WH press meeting. It's been talked about it lately probably because the deadline Oct 1st is approaching. McCain opposes the elimination of the DV visa and so does the Black Caucus so my guess is that, it will reach to voting but hopefully it wont pass Senate. Even if it passes lets hope at least the winners of 2018 are safe. It would be such a disappointment for all of us to lose our chance after finally winning this year.
 
MonFD said:
Just heard now Sean Spicer mentioning the bill in his WH press meeting. It's been talked about it lately probably because the deadline Oct 1st is approaching. McCain opposes the elimination of the DV visa and so does the Black Caucus so my guess is that, it will reach to voting but hopefully it wont pass Senate. Even if it passes lets hope at least the winners of 2018 are safe. It would be such a disappointment for all of us to lose our chance after finally winning this year.
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Even if passed (which I doubt), it would not affect DV2018.
 
MonFD said:
The effective date on the bill is Oct 1st 2017 and since our processing starts only then, why do you think 2018 selectees wont get affected? Thanks!
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Because I took 5 minutes to read the bill. You could do the same....
 
Britsimon said:
Because I took 5 minutes to read the bill. You could do the same....
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Not sure what you read for 5 minutes but this is what I read:
H.R.1178 - SAFE for America Act : "Effective date.—The amendments made by this section shall take effect on October 1, 2017."
S.354 - RAISE Act: "EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the first day of the first fiscal year that begins after the date of the enactment of this Act."

It doesn't seem to me that 2018 selectees would not be affected if these bills pass.
 
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