Senator Cotton is probably the most articulate Republican Senator with regard to a possible major reform in immigration. Neither he nor anyone has put forth what might be called a comprehensive bill for at least ten years. But I expect that is the Senate moves toward immigration reform, a comprehensive bill will be introduced at some time.
In 2017 Senator Cotton introduced the RAISE Act. Here is a section by section analysis.
Reducing Overall Immigration: Cut legal immigration by half, from approximately 1 million to around 500,000 annually. This reduction is intended to alleviate what Cotton describes as the negative economic impact of high immigration levels on American workers’ wages and job opportunities.
Points-Based Immigration System: A points-based system for employment-based visas, where immigrants would be evaluated based on criteria such as education level, English proficiency, and work experience. This system is designed to prioritize highly skilled individuals who can contribute effectively to the U.S. economy. Canada and Australia use a points based system. There is wide popular support for skilled immigration. the system is designed for permanent immigration.
By implication, temporary work visas for seasonal agricultural workers (H-2A) are apparently imperiled.
Family Sponsorship Limitations: The legislation seeks to limit family-sponsored immigration strictly to spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. This would eliminate the ability of citizens to sponsor adult children and siblings. for many decades the large majority of immigrants has come through family unification. This was baked into the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (Hart-Celler Act).
End the Diversity Visa Lottery: The RAISE Act proposes to abolish the Diversity Visa Lottery, which Cotton argues does not serve the economic interests of the United States.
Cap refugee admissions to 50,000. The Obama and Biden administrations targeted 100,000 to 125,000. The first Trump administration sought in effect to destroy this program.
End birthright citizenship. The Constitutional Citizenship Clarification Act of 2024 would deny citizenship to persons born in the United States of “alien parents” who are unlawfully present in the United States. This ban will join two pre-existing ones: parents are in the U.S. for diplomatic purposes or engaged in hostile occupation.