Cotton backs new rules on foreigners

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., supports the White House’s announced efforts to make it harder for foreigners receiving government assistance to get permanent residence status or green cards.

The lawmaker from Dardanelle has called for curbs on legal, as well as illegal immigration.

Those who come to the U.S. should be able to pull their own weight, he said.

“Public charge rules have been one of the oldest principles of American immigration law going back to the earliest days of our republic. We ought not to let immigrants come to this country if American taxpayers are going to have to support them,” he said in an interview Monday.

“I strongly support the president’s new regulation that is trying to protect taxpayer resources while welcoming immigrants who are able to stand on their own two feet and contribute to our economy and our society from the very first day,” he added.

Cotton is sponsoring legislation to overhaul the existing system. It’s been dubbed the Reforming American Immigration for A Strong Economy, or RAISE, Act.

In addition to favoring younger workers with higher skills, it would make it harder for immigrants to bring their adult relatives to live in the U.S.

Researchers said the measure, if approved, would cut legal immigration in half within 10 years of passage and prevent many unskilled workers from gaining entry. Legal immigration allows about 1.1 million people a year into the country.