US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced his support [press release] for a Senate bill to cut immigration levels over a decade. Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton and Georgia Senator David Perdue introduced [press release] the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) Act [text, PDF] to “spur economic growth and raise working Americans’ wages by giving priority to the best-skilled immigrants from around the world and reducing overall immigration by half.” Cotton said that the bill’s objective is to “create a skills-based system that is more responsive to the needs of our economy and preserves the quality of jobs available to American workers.”
Throughout his presidency, Trump has made persistent efforts for immigration reform. In June the US Supreme Court agreed to review [JURIST report] the Trump administration’s travel ban, partially lifting the temporary injunction that had blocked the ban’s enforcement. The administration sought review [JURIST report] of decisions issued by the US Courts of Appeal for the Fourth and Ninth Circuits [official websites] in May. The Supreme Court’s order permits execution of the travel ban, but it “may not be enforced against an individual seeking admission as a refugee who can credibly claim a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.” The Supreme Court later clarified that grandparents [JURIST report] are exempted from the travel ban.