#194: Is the RAISE Act Sinking?

Tech Policy Podcast

TechFreedom

Technology

4.8 • 45 Ratings

🗓️ 6 September 2017

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When it comes to immigration policy, the headlines are naturally focused on DACA, Dreamers, and illegal immigration. But many in Congress are also looking to reduce legal immigration, namely Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and David Perdue (R-GA), who introduced the RAISE Act, aimed at cutting green cards issued in half over the next ten years. What kind of impact does legal immigration have on the tech sector, and how might the RAISE Act change that? What else could Congress do to address problems in our immigration system without stifling entrepreneurship and innovation? Evan is joined by Alex Nowrasteh, immigration policy analyst at the Cato Institute, and Graham Owens, legal fellow at TechFreedom. For more, see Alex’s post on the RAISE Act.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the tech policy podcast. I'm Evan Swartstrom.
0:12.1	On today's show, Tech, Immigration and the Rays Act. The Rays Act was introduced in January, but it didn't get too much play until recently when it was rewritten,
0:22.2	and President Trump put his support behind the bill. And we did an episode previously about
0:27.3	H-1B visas. So we're going to now update you on the situation with tech and immigration
0:32.1	and what this bill could mean for immigration and the tech sector. Joining me to discuss this, we've got two great guests, Alex Narasta,
0:39.6	immigration policy analyst at the Cato Institute.
0:41.9	Alex, thanks for joining.
0:42.9	Thanks for having me.
0:43.7	And I've heard you many times on the Cato podcast, which was certainly an inspiration
0:47.2	for this program.
0:48.5	And we've got Graham Owens, legal fellow at Tech Freedom.
0:51.8	Graham, this is your first podcast.
0:53.2	It is.
0:53.6	Thank you for having me. Of course. I mean, you know, we're basically obligated. We're basically obligated to have our own
0:57.9	staff on the show because otherwise it would be awkward. So, Alex, can you give me just like the
1:02.9	high level summary of this bill? I mean, what does it do? What sorts of changes will this make to our
1:07.6	current immigration system? So the big changes are that it significantly cuts
1:12.6	family reunification, a number of green cards available for them. The diversity visa, which is basically
1:18.5	50,000 green cards a year allocated by lottery to people from countries that don't send many
1:24.2	immigrants to the U.S. And it cuts refugees to just 50,000 a year going forward.
1:29.9	It does not increase the number of skills-based immigrants or green cards at all.
1:37.2	What it also does is for the remaining sort of skills-based immigration system,
	...

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