Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville has put forward a proposal to significantly alter the U.S. legal immigration system. This plan aims to remove the Diversity Visa Lottery, limit several family-based paths to permanent residence, and introduce a points system for employment-based green cards.
Key Features of the Proposal
The Americans First Immigration Act is designed to make extensive changes to legal immigration. Among these changes are terminating green card opportunities for parents of U.S. citizens and other family categories. In their place, a new system for employment-based immigrants will be based on factors such as salary, education, English proficiency, age, military service, and notable achievements.
Introduced in the Senate by Senator Tuberville from Alabama, this proposal follows an earlier House version by Republican Representative Barry Moore. Co-sponsors include Republican Representatives Glenn Grothman, Wesley Hunt, and Troy Nehls. While maintaining the House proposal’s core structure, the Senate version introduces additional modifications like expanded immigration attestations, stricter penalties for employer violations, and revised transition rules for individuals already in the immigration system.
Impact on Green Card Eligibility
The proposal will make obtaining green cards more challenging by eliminating several existing family- and employment-based pathways. Employment applicants will need to meet new criteria, including salary, English proficiency, and age.
“Our current immigration system does little to evaluate the type of people we let in—it’s a free-for-all,” Tuberville said in a news release. “Coming to the United States is a privilege, and we need to ensure that anyone immigrating to our country is willing to go by our laws and contribute to our society.”
Tuberville is currently the Republican nominee for Alabama governor. Having won the GOP primary in May, he is set to face former Democratic Senator Doug Jones on November 3.
Specific Measures in the Bill
The bill seeks to eliminate the Diversity Visa Lottery. In its place, it establishes an annual allocation of 3,000 immigrant visas for religious workers and prohibits diversity visas from being issued post-enactment.
Family Immigration
The legislation removes parents from the immediate-relative category for U.S. citizens, leaving only spouses and children. Several family-preference categories are also abolished. The surviving family-sponsored category will cover spouses and children of lawful permanent residents.
This change affects people already in the immigration system. Pending petitions in the affected categories will not receive approval. Those with petitions approved before enactment face a transition provision that limits visa issuance.
A New Employment System
The bill proposes a new points system for employment-based green card categories with an annual worldwide level of 192,000 visas. This figure is subject to reduction based on the number of individuals not detained or released despite mandatory detention provisions.
Applicants will need a U.S. job offer, a minimum of 16 points, an English proficiency score in at least the fifth decile, and must be aged 18 to 51 at the time of application. The minimum salary requirement is 200% of the median wage in the applicant’s prospective employment state. However, it reduces to 150% for applicants holding specific U.S. degrees.
DHS will rank eligible applicants by their points. Higher salaries and certain U.S. STEM doctorates or medical degrees earn up to 35 points. Points are also awarded for English proficiency, age, military service, and extraordinary achievements.
Rules for Employers
Employers must first seek U.S. workers and offer the job to a qualified American applicant. They face restrictions on laying off U.S. workers in similar positions.
Civil penalties could reach $25,000 for willful violations, and $50,000 if a violation results in a U.S. worker being laid off. A pattern of noncompliance may incur a fine of at least $250,000, up to six months in prison, or both.
Immigrants selected via the points system and their qualifying family members will initially receive conditional permanent residence. During a two-year conditional period, principal immigrants risk losing status due to receiving means-tested public benefits, specific criminal convictions, or failing to maintain employment. Loss of status may impact dependent spouses and children.
Attestation and Other Provisions
The legislation mandates covered immigrants to sign a “Protection of American Values” attestation. This document affirms commitment to constitutional principles and addresses conduct including genocide, persecution, honor killing, sexual assault, domestic violence, and female genital mutilation.
Comparison with the House Bill
The Senate version is more comprehensive than the House bill. It addresses sexual assault and domestic violence in its list and increases maximum penalties for employer attestation violations. Additionally, unlike the House, it removes a provision allowing DHS to waive some previously required interviews for removing conditions on permanent residence.
The Senate bill also imposes tuition requirements for non-lawful permanent resident immigrants attending postsecondary institutions. Institutions failing these requirements could lose approval for covered foreign students for five years, a punishment absent in the House bill.
This proposal comes amidst broader efforts by the Trump administration to tighten immigration laws, including suspending most refugee admissions and restricting green card applicants.
“Our immigration system should serve the American people, not undercut them,” stated Representative Barry Moore in a press release.
Legislative Outlook
The future of this bill in Congress is uncertain. The House adjourned earlier than planned on September 16 for its pre-election recess and will not resume legislative business until post-November 3 midterm elections. Currently, Republicans have a narrow majority in both chambers: 218 Republicans to 214 Democrats with one independent in the House and a 53 to 45 Republican majority in the Senate, with two independents caucusing with Democrats.
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