Overview
- - GOP sponsors introduced matching House and Senate versions of the ASSIMILATION Act, a proposal to overhaul U.S. immigration that has been filed but not enacted.
- - The measure would rewrite H-1B rules by cutting the cap to 50,000, requiring pay at 200% of the local median wage, limiting status to one three-year term, and blocking green card transitions unless holders spend two years abroad after expiry.
- - It would eliminate Optional Practical Training, which lets international graduates work in the U.S. after finishing their degrees.
- - Family and citizenship rules would tighten by narrowing who counts as an immediate relative, limiting parents of U.S. citizens to five-year nonworking visas without benefits, raising the residency wait for naturalization to 10 years, and ending the Diversity Visa lottery.
- - Asylum and enforcement provisions would bar work permits based only on pending claims, add a $500 filing fee, require nationwide E-Verify for new hires, and create new penalties for visa overstays, changes that could hit Indian professionals and students especially hard while supporters claim it would cut net immigration by 85%.