Diversity visa lottery and some family green cards face end

Several of the main doors into the United States immigration system could change at once under a proposal introduced in the U.S. Senate on May 14. The legislation, called the American System for Sustainable Immigration and Mass Immigration Limitations Achieved Through Imposing Oversight Nationally Act, or ASSIMILATION Act, would rewrite large sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Rather than focusing on border enforcement alone, the bill reaches across the structure of legal immigration. It would create a new "national‑interest" standard meant to guide immigration policy while restructuring family visas, employment programs, humanitarian protections and the rules immigrants must meet to eventually become U.S. citizens.

The legal pathways the bill targets

Some of the most visible changes involve immigration routes people already use to enter the country legally. The proposal would eliminate the diversity immigrant visa program, the lottery system that allocates visas to applicants from countries with historically lower levels of immigration to the United States.

It would also end certain family‑sponsored immigration categories, narrowing a system that allows U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to sponsor relatives. Those provisions would remove pathways that do not rely on employer sponsorship.

Employment‑based immigration would also be revised, including changes affecting the H‑1B visa program used by many companies to hire foreign professionals. The bill would additionally eliminate Optional Practical Training, a program that allows many international students to work in the United States after completing their studies, unless Congress later authorizes it directly in statute.

Stricter eligibility across the system

Beyond altering which visas exist, the proposal would tighten the standards people must meet to enter or remain in the country. The centerpiece is the new national‑interest test, which would frame how immigration decisions are evaluated under federal law.

The bill would also revise how officials assess "good moral character," a legal requirement that affects several immigration benefits including naturalization. It would adjust public‑charge rules, which examine whether an applicant may depend on public assistance, and change financial‑support obligations for sponsors who petition for relatives.

Naturalization rules would also be revised, signaling that the legislation aims to reshape not only who can enter the United States but also the conditions under which immigrants can remain and eventually become citizens.

Asylum rules and workplace verification

The measure pairs changes to legal pathways with enforcement provisions affecting migrants and employers. It would revise asylum procedures and adjust federal parole authority, which can allow people to enter or remain in the United States temporarily for humanitarian or public‑interest reasons.