Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) will soon file legislation to freeze all immigration to the United States until certain conditions are met.
The PAUSE Act, which Roy announced on conservative commentator Benny Johnson’s talk show last week, would halt immigration until Congress puts an end to H-1B visas, chain migration, and sharia law in the country.
“I’ve got a bill that I’m going to be introducing this week or next week that is a freeze on all immigration until we achieve certain objectives, reforming things like chain migration, diversity, ending H-1B, and getting birthright citizenship dealt with,” Roy said.
Another one of the conditions Roy wants Congress to deal with during his immigration freeze is to end the decision of Plyler v. Doe, which requires children of illegal immigrants to be educated in the U.S.
Roy then shifted his focus to addressing the presence of sharia law in the U.S., which he claimed was caused by unchecked immigration and goes against Western values. Republicans, including Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), have also revived the conversation about sharia law in recent months. Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) signed legislation banning sharia law in Texas in September. Right-wing politicians say banning sharia law protects the Constitution, while left-wing politicians accuse them of fearmongering without evidence.
“Why are we importing any human being that is adherent to sharia law, which is totally contrary to the Constitution and our values in Western civilization?” Roy asked.
Roy said he would be open to allowing other members to amend his bill, as his bill would serve as a “framework” to freeze immigration entirely while Congress can “sort this crap out.”
However, Roy expressed the need for the U.S. to identify the immigrants who are here, their motives, and how dependent they are on America’s public resources.
Prior to his announcement on the PAUSE Act, Roy discussed the ramifications of the H-1B system, chain migration, and diversity visas, which he said have been “abused.”
Roy then shed light on his previous efforts to reform the immigration system, which he and his colleagues have been trying to address “for a very long time.”
“You’ll remember back in 2018, with the various bills that were being debated in President Trump’s first term, and we were unable to get that resolved as Republicans, and it left it both broken in respect to the illegal immigration system, and we also didn’t address ending chain migration and diversity visas,” Roy said.
“We had language to do it, we just couldn’t get the votes.”
While it remains unclear if Roy will have enough support from his colleagues in pushing this bill to the Resolute Desk for a signature, President Donald Trump’s administration and his congressional allies have signaled strong support for legal immigration.
H-1B visas are work permits given to highly skilled foreign laborers. Trump and his allies have recently called for reforming the program, including raising the cost and reducing the number given, as they accuse employers of abusing the system.
In September, Trump changed the fee for H-1B visas from around $10,000 to $100,000, in an attempt to make the visa less desirable for companies.
“The H-1B system is a complete scam,” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) said on Johnson’s talk show on Wednesday. “We now know that to be the case.”
Later that day, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) announced that she would introduce legislation to completely phase out the visa.
EDITORIAL: TRUMP PROTECTS AMERICAN WORKERS WITH H-1B REFORMS
“Big Tech, AI giants, hospitals, and industries across the board have abused the H-1B system to cut out our own people,” she posted on social media.
“My bill ELIMINATES the corrupt H-1B program and puts AMERICANS FIRST again in tech, healthcare, engineering, manufacturing, and every industry that keeps this country running!!” Greene added.