Texas GOP Rep. Chip Roy is demanding a near-total ban on immigration until the federal government hammers down large-scale changes to the immigration system.
The Republican lawmaker introduced the PAUSE Act on Thursday, a bill that would temporarily freeze legal immigration admissions until long-standing policies that enable illegal immigration are scrapped and the current system of unfettered chain migration is replaced with a merit-based model, according to texts of the legislation obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Roy, a longtime border hawk in Congress, is touting the proposal as he seeks to become the Lone Star State’s top prosecutor.
“The problem isn’t just illegal immigration; it’s also legal immigration,” Roy stated to the DCNF. “While the Biden administration opened our borders and allowed millions to flood into our country, they also rubber-stamped millions more arriving through convoluted legal schemes, completely overwhelming the system.”
“The American people are done being taken advantage of by the rest of the world,” Roy continued.
The congressman’s bill follows record levels of illegal immigration experienced under the Biden administration, which drove many city governments to the financial brink. While the Trump administration has achieved unprecedented success in securing the southern border over the past year, a litany of issues remain embedded in the immigration system. The White House has worked to keep foreign nationals away from taxpayer-funded benefits and remove the incentives that drive illegal immigration.
Should the PAUSE Act be signed into law, the federal government would be forced to pump the brakes on nearly all immigration until the Diversity Visa Program and chain migration is scrapped, putting an end to admitting extended family members or winning admission based on mere luck, according to the legislation. The bill also excludes birthright citizenship to minors who don’t have at least one U.S. citizen or green card holder parent, something President Donald Trump himself has vehemently supported since returning to the White House.
Other prerequisites include banning foreign nationals from government entitlements like food stamps, public housing, Medicaid, Medicare and other freebies. Roy also wants state and local governments to be enabled with the authority to limit access to public schools to just American citizens and lawful permanent residents.
Several lawmakers in the House of Representatives have begun lining up in support of the bill, with GOP Reps. Keith Self and Brandon Gill of Texas, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Andy Ogles of Tennessee listed as original co-sponsors.
“Rep. Roy’s Pause on Admissions Until Security Ensured (PAUSE) Act provides exactly the ‘PAUSE’ in immigration that is necessary for America to get our house in order,” Rosemary Jenks, co-founder of the Immigration Accountability Project, said in a statement provided to the DCNF. “A national conversation about an immigration policy that actually serves Americans’ interests is long overdue, and the PAUSE Act’s immigration moratorium will give us the space to have it.”
“Congress should pass the PAUSE Act to protect the public, uphold ordered liberty, and reaffirm that entry is a privilege linked to allegiance to our constitutional order; once again, Rep. Chip Roy sets the standard,” RJ Hauman, president of the National Immigration Center for Enforcement, said of the bill.
Roy’s legislation also demands a prohibition on immigrants who are Chinese Communist Party members, adherents of Sharia Law, known or suspected terrorists or otherwise belong to a designated foreign terrorist organization, according to the bill. The Pause Act would also end the adjustment of status for foreign nationals who enter on an H-1B visa and would completely scrap the controversial Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, which the congressman argues displaces tech workers by allowing foreign graduates to work in the U.S. instead of returning to their home countries.
“Our immigration system is supposed to benefit Americans,” Roy said to the DCNF. “We must put a pause on immigration until we fundamentally fix our broken system.”
Roy — who has been championing tougher immigration laws since first entering Congress in January 2019 — launched his bid to become the next Texas Attorney General in August. The conservative lawmaker would replace the outgoing Ken Paxton, who is seeking election to the U.S. Senate.
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