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This RAISE Act Questionnaire Determines If Trump Would Let You Come To The U.S.
Last week, Donald Trump cosigned conservative legislation meant to cut down on legal immigration by establishing a merits-based system for those seeking to immigrate to the United States of America. The most striking feature of the legislation is its immigration points system. The bill aims to create a "skills-based immigration" system and "set a limit on the number of refugees admitted annually to the United States." So, TIME put together an interactive questionnaire that tells you whether Trump's administration would let you come to the United States.
The bill is couched under the RAISE Act, which stands for Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment. Promoted by Republican Sens. David Perdue of Georgia and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, the bill would screen visa applicants by evaluating them through a point system.
In other words, you win or lose points based on the achievements mentioned in the bill. The qualifications noted in the Republican legislation are peculiar. For instance, the applicant would be awarded 25 points if he or she is a Nobel Laureate or, as the bill stipulates, "has received comparable recognition in a field of scientific or social scientific study, as determined by the Commissioner of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services."
Another question in the bill asks whether the visa applicant has ever won an Olympic medal. If the the applicant has won an Olympic medal in the past eight years, the bill would award him or her 15 points, thereby increasing the likelihood of being granted access into the United States. Those without a medal receive zero points.
Neither Perdue nor Cotton — along with Trump himself — carries an Olympic medal or Nobel Prize.
The bill also awards points based on the applicant's English proficiency. Fluent speakers would receive 12 points, those below them get 11 points, and so on. An applicant who scored low on the "English language proficiency test score" would be given zero points. Apart from testing fluency in English, the legislation also seeks to zero in on an applicant's job prospects in the country. It does so by asking whether the applicant has been offered a high-paying job or plans to invest a large amount of money.
TIME created the interactive questionnaire, which you can fill out here, and it shows how hard it will be for people to come to the United States. To get to the U.S., you have to earn 30 points. Many people found that hard to do.
Trump justified the RAISE Act by saying it "demonstrates our compassion for struggling American families who deserve an immigration system that puts their needs first and puts America first." But critics of the RAISE Act claim that the legislation is biased and unfair.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington told Democracy Now! that bill was "cruel and inhumane" and explained that the need was to "modernize and update the system, not just cut the numbers in half."