Yet another Donald Trump shocker: New law introduced could cut legal immigrants from India to US by half

The latest bill proposed by two two senator looks to reduce the number of green card or legal permanent residency issued every year from currently about a million to half a million. The passage of the bill, which is said to have the support of the Trump administration, will have a major impact on hundreds and thousands of Indian Americans who are currently painfully waiting to get their green cards on employment -based categories. Notably, the current wait period of an Indian to get a green card varies from 10 years to 35 years and this could increase if the proposed bill becomes a law.

This move that could adversely hit those aspiring to get a green card or permanent residency in the US including a large number of Indians. The Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment, or Raise Act, introduced by Republican senator Tom Cotton and David Perdue from the Democratic party, would alter the US immigration system to significantly reduce the number of foreigners admitted to the country without a skills¬ based visa.

The bill however does not focus on H¬1B visas. Cotton argued that the growth in legal immigration in recent decades had led to a "sharp decline in wages for working Americans" and that the bill represented an effort to move the US "to a more merit¬ based system like Canada and Australia". "It's time our immigration system started working for American workers," Cotton said. "The RAISE Act would promote higher wages on which all working Americans can build a future¬ whether your family came over here on the Mayflower or you just took the oath of citizenship," he added.