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HR8827119th CongressWALLET

ASSIMILATION Act

Sponsored By: Representative Ogles, Andrew [R-TN-5]

Introduced

Summary

This bill shifts U.S. immigration toward a new national‑interest standard that prioritizes merit, economic self‑sufficiency, and cultural assimilation. It narrows family and diversity pathways and ties many visas to wage, shortage, or agency priority tests.

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  • Redefined families. Reduces "immediate relatives" to spouses and unmarried children under 18 and sets family‑sponsored visas at 88,000 per year. It also creates a nonimmigrant W visa for parents with limits on work and public benefits.
  • Work and visas. Caps employment‑based green cards at 140,000 annually and limits H‑1B visas to 50,000 per year. Applicants must receive a DHS national‑interest certification based on high wages, shortage service, agency support, extraordinary ability, or qualifying investment and job creation.
  • Sponsors and enforcement. Raises sponsor income to 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines and requires at least a $20,000 bond per sponsored immigrant. Expands public‑charge rules, adds liens and administrative offsets, mandates E‑Verify, and tightens detention, expedited removal, and asylum credibility standards.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

8 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 6 costs, 2 mixed.

Higher sponsor income tests and bonds

If enacted, sponsors would face a higher financial test and new bond rules. The affidavit-of-support income threshold would rise to 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. Sponsors and joint sponsors must post a bond of at least $20,000 per sponsored person. Bonds stay in effect up to 10 years after admission, naturalization, death, or permanent departure. The government could forfeit bonds, record liens, and use administrative offsets to collect unreimbursed means-tested benefit costs after notice.

Stricter public-charge and benefit rules

If enacted, immigration officers would get a stronger public-charge test. Getting more than 12 months of means-tested benefits in any 36-month window would create a presumption you are a public charge, counting multiple benefits in one month separately. You could only rebut that presumption with objective evidence the need arose after admission, was not reasonably foreseeable, and does not show you cannot stay self-sufficient. The bill also defines which programs count as means-tested and narrows what counts as objective evidence.

Major limits on H-1B visas

If enacted, H-1B visas would be capped at 50,000 per year. H-1B status could last no more than three years and could not be renewed, and beneficiaries could not adjust to a green card unless they stay outside the United States for at least two continuous years after their H-1B ends. Employers would have to attest, and DHS concur, that the wage is at least 200 percent of the median wage for the job and area. The Secretary should prioritize petitions for aliens with U.S. STEM degrees.

Tougher rules for employment green cards

If enacted, employment-based green cards would need a new DHS "national-interest" certification. The law would require one strong positive factor (for example, pay at or above the 90th percentile, work in a DHS national-interest job at the 75th percentile, a federal strategic support letter, extraordinary ability, or specified startup investment and a plan to create five jobs in three years). The bill would cap employment-based immigrant visas at 140,000 per year and require DHS rules within 180 days on wage mapping, English standards, investment rules, employer penalties, and self-sufficiency tests. If demand exceeds visas, DHS must prioritize strategic support, then national-interest occupations, then high pay, then entrepreneurs, and use higher wages and earlier priority dates to break ties.

Employer checks and farm wage rules

If enacted, all employers hiring new workers would have to enroll in and use E-Verify when they complete Form I-9. DHS would keep E-Verify free, run it 24/7, and require provisional authorization steps when a confirmation is pending. If E-Verify never confirms, employers could end employment after the provisional period. The bill would also raise H-2A farm worker pay rules so H-2A wages must be at least the highest of the DOL prevailing wage, the federal or state minimum, or the recent average hourly wage for U.S. workers in that job, rounded up. Labor rules would be published before each season.

Work ban for some F-1 students

If enacted, people admitted in the specified F-1 category in section 101(a)(15)(F)(i) would not be considered authorized to work in the United States. That means affected F-1 students would lose employment eligibility under this admission category.

Tougher parole, asylum, and overstay rules

If enacted, DHS parole would be limited to case-by-case written determinations for up to 90 days and programmatic parole would be banned. Categorical deferred action would be prohibited, with individualized written deferrals limited to 180 days for narrow reasons. Credible-fear screening in expedited removal would use a "more likely than not" standard and require recorded interviews, standard questions, and quality checks. Nonimmigrant visas would become void 10 days after an overstay or material noncompliance, and staying beyond your authorized period by 10 or more days could trigger civil fines ($500–$1,000) and possible criminal penalties.

Family detention and child custody rules

If enacted, DHS would be able to detain children who are not unaccompanied and detain parents with children under certain misdemeanor charges. States could not require licensing of immigration detention facilities used for families. For unaccompanied children apprehended 30 days after enactment, HHS custody transfers would normally occur within 30 days, DHS must give safety information to HHS within 14 days, and HHS could not place a child until it gets full proposed-custodian details. Proposed custodians who are unlawfully present must have removal proceedings started within 30 days, and false information can make a custodian ineligible.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Ogles, Andrew [R-TN-5]

TN • R

Cosponsors

  • Rep. Moore, Barry [R-AL-1]

    AL • R

    Sponsored 5/14/2026

  • Rep. Miller, Mary E. [R-IL-15]

    IL • R

    Sponsored 5/14/2026

  • Rep. Luttrell, Morgan [R-TX-8]

    TX • R

    Sponsored 5/14/2026

  • Rep. Boebert, Lauren [R-CO-4]

    CO • R

    Sponsored 5/14/2026

  • Rep. Crane, Elijah [R-AZ-2]

    AZ • R

    Sponsored 5/14/2026

  • Rep. Norman, Ralph [R-SC-5]

    SC • R

    Sponsored 5/14/2026

  • Rep. Self, Keith [R-TX-3]

    TX • R

    Sponsored 5/14/2026

  • Rep. Fine, Randy [R-FL-6]

    FL • R

    Sponsored 5/14/2026

  • Rep. Fuller, Clay [R-GA-14]

    GA • R

    Sponsored 5/15/2026

  • Rep. Mills, Cory [R-FL-7]

    FL • R

    Sponsored 5/15/2026

  • Rep. Babin, Brian [R-TX-36]

    TX • R

    Sponsored 5/19/2026

  • Rep. Davidson, Warren [R-OH-8]

    OH • R

    Sponsored 5/19/2026

  • Rep. Luna, Anna Paulina [R-FL-13]

    FL • R

    Sponsored 5/29/2026

  • Rep. Brecheen, Josh [R-OK-2]

    OK • R

    Sponsored 5/29/2026

  • Rep. Clyde, Andrew S. [R-GA-9]

    GA • R

    Sponsored 6/3/2026

  • Rep. Gill, Brandon [R-TX-26]

    TX • R

    Sponsored 6/9/2026

  • Rep. Rulli, Michael A. [R-OH-6]

    OH • R

    Sponsored 7/21/2026

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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