Two Republican senators seek to slash legal U.S. immigration

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - Two Republican senators proposed steps to slash the number of legal immigrants admitted into the United States by half yesterday, but the legislation, developed with the Trump administration, faces an uphill climb to get through Congress.

Senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue said their bill would cut the number of immigrants granted U.S. residency each year to 500,000 from 1 million, through measures including cutting far back on which relatives can be brought into the country and eliminating a diversity visa lottery.

The legislation does not address visas specifically tied to employment, such as the H-1B visas for skilled workers used by many technology companies. Cotton and Perdue said they had consulted Republican President Donald Trump, who vowed to crack down on both illegal and legal immigration during his campaign for the White House.

Cotton said he had spoken to Trump about the bill by telephone as recently as Tuesday morning.

The measure faces stiff opposition in Congress. Although Trump’s fellow Republicans control majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives, several back comprehensive immigration reform, not a tough crackdown.

Republican Senator John McCain said he disagreed with the bill. A long-time advocate for immigration reform, McCain praised the contribution of immigrants to the United States.

“We need more Sergey Brins and people like that who were born outside of this country and came here, received an education and made enormous progress for all mankind,” McCain told reporters, referring to the Google co-founder, who came to the United States as a refugee from Russia.