Congress replaces family immigration with points-based system, eliminates diversity visas

What it does

This bill overhauls U.S. immigration law by replacing employment-based visa categories with a points-based system, eliminating the diversity visa lottery, and restricting family immigration to spouses and minor children only (removing parents). It requires employers to attest they recruited U.S. workers first and pay high wages (150–200% of state median), and requires immigrant applicants to pledge allegiance to the Constitution and disavow violence, religious persecution, and gender-based harm. The bill benefits high-wage employers and skilled immigrants meeting strict criteria; it harms workers seeking family reunification, eliminates visa pathways for extended family, and creates new compliance burdens on employers.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is a wholesale replacement of employment-based immigration with a points-based system that privileges high wages, advanced education, English proficiency, and youth. It simultaneously eliminates family reunification pathways (diversity visa, parent sponsorship) and imposes new employer compliance burdens. The stated purpose is 'protecting American workers and values,' but the operative effect is a dramatic narrowing of legal immigration access.

What the text implies

• The 'Protection of American values' attestation (Section 220B) requires immigrants to disavow violence, religious persecution, and gender-based harm, but the language is broad enough to capture speech, writing, and association — potentially creating a chilling effect on political expression or religious practice by immigrants and may be difficult to enforce consistently.
• The bill eliminates pending petitions for extended family (parents, adult siblings) and diversity visa beneficiaries, retroactively invalidating years of processing and investment by families and employers — a sudden termination of expectations with no grandfathering except for a limited waitlist.
• The points-based system heavily weights salary (up to 35 points for 500%+ median wage) and education, creating a de facto class-based immigration filter that excludes lower-skilled workers and may exacerbate labor shortages in agriculture, hospitality, and care sectors.
• Employer attestation requirements (Section 220A) impose significant compliance and documentation burdens, including recruitment records, wage comparisons, and lay-off attestations, with penalties up to $50,000 per willful violation — this may deter small employers from hiring foreign workers even when U.S. workers are unavailable.
• The bill repeals Section 107 of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, eliminating the EB-5 immigrant investor visa program entirely, which may disrupt real estate and infrastructure projects relying on EB-5 capital.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Ordinary citizens lose access to family reunification (parents, adult siblings, extended family), visa diversity is eliminated, and lower-skilled workers face reduced employment-based pathways. While employer attestation provisions protect some U.S. workers from wage suppression and displacement, the bill's primary effect is to restrict immigration access for millions of people with approved petitions and pending cases, and to eliminate visa categories serving broader public interests (family un

Who stands to gain

• High-wage employers in technology, finance, and professional services (able to meet 150–200% median
• U.S. workers in occupations where wage floors and recruitment attestations provide protection from d
• Employers in sectors with high English-proficiency requirements (finance, tech, consulting)

Named in the bill

Secretary of Homeland Security, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of State, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, American Council on Education, National Science Foundation, Internal Revenue Code Section 3121(h), Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, National Apprenticeship Act, Higher Education Act of 1965 — and 1 more

Where it stands

7 cosponsors: 7 Republicans.

• Apr 29, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Apr 29, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce and House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Workforce, for…”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $75,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 7 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.

Barry Moore, the sponsor, reported $881,544 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Jefferson Rising Fund — $75,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.