Washington, D.C. (July 31, 2019) – Transcript and video are now available from the Center for Immigration Studies Newsmaker conversation with Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) regarding immigration policymaking in Congress. The conversation included topics such as the crisis at the border, reducing total immigration levels, guestworker visas, and the intersection of immigration and national security.
Edited Video - Transcript - Facebook Live Stream - C-Span 2 Video
Sen. Cotton has been a strong advocate for border and interior enforcement, speaking often about the dangers of the cartels that smuggle narcotics across the southern border and the growth of violent gangs, such as MS-13. The Senator has sponsored a number of important immigration bills, including the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy Act (RAISE Act), which modernizes our immigration system to attract more high-skilled workers and protects the jobs and wages of American workers.
"We are at historically elevated numbers, as high as we have been since right before the 1924 Immigration Act," he said, adding that this is "one reason why Americans with high school degrees who are working with their hands or on their feet all day long have seen wages suffer." He also noted, "A gradual decline over time, while refocusing also on high-killed workers, will be very beneficial for unskilled and low-skilled American workers."