Sen. Cramer: Backlog Green Cards Possible Under Trump

WASHINGTON – Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer is not giving up on green cards for the hundreds of thousands of family- and work-based visa holders stuck in a backlog, many of whom work in STEM fields, predominantly from India and China.

Migrant Insider caught up with the junior senator from North Dakota on Wednesday. When asked if a new bill to address the backlog would be possible during Donald Trump’s second term int he White House, Cramer responded, “I do, I do, I absolutely do.”

During the current Congress, Cramer introduced the Eagle Act, a controversial bill that creates no new green cards but redistributes the inordinately long wait times faced by migrants from India and China across applicants from other countries.

Indian migrants, for instance, can currently face decades-long waits for family- and employment-based green cards due to high application volumes. Under the Eagle Act, these migrants could still face decades of waiting, prompting critics to question the bill’s effectiveness and intent.

“See, the problem with Eagle is that there’s never been any hearing on it, and so it has to be airdropped into something,” Cramer explained, expressing doubts that this would happen during the lame-duck period between the election and the inauguration. “I think we win the day on the topic in a more robust immigration policy discussion.”

Trump and his MAGA allies in Congress supported the Eagle Act during his first term as a way to discourage migrants from seeking family- and work-based visas. Curiously, the bill was also championed by progressive Rep. Zoe Lofgren, whose Silicon Valley constituency includes thousands of migrant families adversely affected by broken green card policies.

The Eagle Act failed to gain significant traction in the Senate during the current Congress, with only three co-sponsors: Cramer, Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado, and Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin. In the House, Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas led the bill, but it similarly struggled to gain widespread support.

Now we know backloggers are all about the receipts, so we’re including the full transcript of our conversation with Cramer in front of the paywall below. It’ll be interesting to see if green card backlog advocates continue to push for the Eagle Act or pivot toward a more immediate and robust form of relief. Either way, we’ll keep watching this space in the weeks and months ahead.

Interview Transcript: Sen. Kevin Cramer

P: Hi Senator, you championed the Eagle Act and a couple of other bills…

Sen. Cramer: Funny you should say that. I was just asking my legislative director what the status of the Eagle [Act] was and whether we thought if there was something we can get on this go around. There’s not this natural thing probably …

P: For the lame duck? 

Cramer: For the lame duck. But if there is, I’d like to get on there, but if not, I would…see the problem with Eagle is that there’s never been any hearing on it, and so it has to be airdropped into something. I think we win the day on the topic in a more robust immigration policy discussion. And Donald Trump supported Eagle in two of his previous attempts at legislation in immigration. Hopefully we’re at a time now where we can get a lot of…we can get everybody on board on legal and illegal immigration. Particularly, even when he was president last time, the workforce challenges become much greater, while we’ve been flooded with illegal immigrants, our economy’s becoming constrained based on workforce challenges.

P: Do you see an opportunity for green cards for the green card backlog under the Trump presidency? 

C: I do, I do, I absolutely do. 

P: And how might that go? Because the Eagle Act obviously doesn’t create green cards…

C: It does not but it does, certainly if we were able to either rip completely or moderate the backlog per country caps, it certainly opens up the opportunities for green cards and removing that backlog or encouraging more through more legal immigration. 

P: Why not pursue an actual green card bill then for the backlog?

C: Well, we could, we could, I’d be all for that too if there was a criteria we can agree on, some people meet and have an immediate windfall as long as there was people that has a skillset that was not in high supply in the United States. Yeah, I’d be very interested in that. I think that markets would love it, I think that business would love it, I know that…I was just at, last week, a festival in Bismarck with about 250 of my closest Indian American friends and every one of them is either a doctor or married to one and we’re so grateful for the skilled surgeons and specialists in North Dakota. The only thing holding us back from more health care are more doctors and any other healthcare professionals. It’s the example that I use because it’s so obvious…

P: Thank you, senator.