In the wake of Zohran Mamdani’s stunning win in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, Hill Republicans are pondering a new issue — restricting legal immigration.
Several conservatives have used Mamdani’s primary victory to argue that mass immigration is causing damaging cultural change, pointing to the 33-year-old’s political rise as an example. Mamdani, a Democratic socialist, was born in Uganda. Mamdani would become the first Muslim and Indian mayor of New York City if he wins the general election in November.
“We have fifty-one-and-a-half million foreign born people in this country,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) told us. “You clamp down on illegal immigration, which is what the president is doing, but you need to limit, slash and refocus legal immigration… legal immigration is part of the problem.”
While the overall number of immigrants is the highest ever, it’s not a record as a percentage of the U.S. population. The difference now is where immigrants are coming from. In the past, there was mass European immigration. Now immigration is more skewed toward Asian, African and Central or South American migrants.
The Trump administration and Hill Republicans have made cracking down on illegal immigration a key priority in their legislative agenda. But with new calls to turn that focus on those immigrants lawfully entering the country, that can cause some headaches for GOP lawmakers from blue states and districts.
“If we don’t have more people, we have a declining population and an aging population and we need talent,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said. “Legal immigration is good.”
Yet in recent weeks, there’s been increased discussion on the topic, particularly among GOP hardliners and influential conservative commentators.
Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) received intense Democratic backlash after he posted a video of Mamdani eating rice with his fingers and said he should “go back to the Third World.”
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) also joined in, saying Congress must consider “not just ending illegal immigration, but also look at restricting our legal immigration system.”
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) added that restrictions on legal immigration “might come up in the debate” as his panel prepares to take up H.R.2, House Republicans’ signature legislation, which includes several hardline border security measures.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) called Gill’s remarks “racist.” Any effort by Republicans to tighten legal immigration would also likely be swiftly rejected by Democrats.
White House moves: While President Donald Trump has focused on border security and illegal immigration restrictions, the administration has made changes to curb legal immigration too.
Among Trump’s earliest executive orders was halting all refugee admissions into the United States. The State Department also tightened its policies around mandatory in-person interviews to those applying for nonimmigrant visas.
Last month, the State Department enforced partial or full suspensions on visas for nationals from 19 countries, mostly in Africa or the Middle East. Trump argues these nations have exploited the U.S. visa system and allowing entry to these migrants could become a national security issue.
But Trump has also selectively allowed some foreigners into the country. Trump signed an executive order in February to resettle white South Africans over what the administration argues is racial discrimination they face back home.
Trump also proposed his “Trump Card” visa program aimed at attracting wealthy foreigners who can buy their right to live and work in the United States.
