Overview
- Senator Tommy Tuberville introduced the Americans First Immigration Act to replace existing employment-based green card categories with a points-based system that ranks applicants by salary, education, English ability, age, military service and extraordinary achievement.
- The proposed system would allocate 192,000 visas worldwide each year, require a U.S. job offer and at least 16 points, limit applicants to ages 18–51, and demand an English test score at or above the fifth decile.
- Salary thresholds would tie to state median wages, generally requiring job offers at 200% of the state median for those without a qualifying U.S. degree and 150% for those with one, while employers must recruit U.S. workers first and face new layoff limits before filing attestations.
- The Senate version strengthens enforcement by raising civil fines for willful violations to $25,000, adding criminal penalties for patterns of noncompliance that could include large fines and jail time, and makes green cards conditional for two years with termination triggers for certain crimes, means-tested benefits or loss of qualifying employment.
- The bill would end the Diversity Visa lottery, restrict family-sponsored immigration to spouses and minor children, include transition rules that could reject or invalidate many pending petitions, and faces an uncertain path through Congress before it could become law.