Chip Roy calls for full pause on all U.S. immigration

By Andrew Rice
The Center Square

U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, is proposing a freeze to legal immigration admissions and visa issuances until the federal government addresses changes to the immigration system.

The Texas Republican introduced the Pausing on Admissions Until Security Ensured, or PAUSE Act of 2025, on Thursday.

The proposed legislation, reviewed by The Center Square, would strip states and local governments from their ability to make determinations about allowing immigrant students to attend public schools. The bill also prevents nonimmigrants from adjusting status to lawful permanent resident.

“The problem isn’t just illegal immigration; it’s also legal immigration,” Roy said in a statement. “Young Americas are struggling to find jobs after college, while a lion’s share of H-1B visas are being awarded for entry-level positions. American families are being gouged by insurance companies, while aliens are receiving taxpayer-funded healthcare. The prospects of marriage, parenthood, and homeownership are becoming increasingly distant for Americans, all while foreign nationals are bringing multiple generations of families through chain migration.”

Additionally, the legislation restricts birthright citizenship only to a child who is born in the United States and has at least one parent who was also born in the United States.

Rosemary Jenks, policy director at the Immigration Accountability Project, said Roy’s bill is meant to generate a discussion on what the country’s immigration policy should be.

“What should our immigration policy be? What actually serves the American people’s interest? It’s obviously not what we have now on so many different levels,” Jenks said.

Roy’s bill also stops granting legal status to people who are members of or associated with the Chinese Communist Party; observers of Sharia law; “Islamist”; and known or suspected terrorists.

The legislation prevents foreign nationals from receiving Social Security benefits, food stamps, public housing, Medicare and Medicaid.

The bill would suspend programs tied to legal immigration like optional practical training, which allows foreign students to gain employment authorization in the United States. The bill also prevents people on H-1B visas from pursuing adjustments of status.

“We need to have the conversation and its bills like a moratorium bill that will start that conversation,” Jenks said.

Roy’s bill follows a proposal from U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., where she planned to introduce a bill to eventually eliminate the H-1B visa program.

Greene’s bill would limit H-1B visas to 10,000 annually that would strictly go to doctors and nurses. This 10,000 visa cap would be phased out over the course of 10 years.

In a video posted to social media, Greene said the H-1B program is “riddled with fraud and abuse” and has “been displacing American workers for decades.”

President Donald Trump appeared to express support for H-1B visa workers in a recent Fox News interview where he stated foreign workers were necessary due to a lack of sufficient skilled workers domestically.

Anna Gorisch, founder and managing partner at Kendall Immigration Law, said she does not understand how proposals like Roy’s and Greene’s will practically work.

“We don’t have any clarity on any of these proposals and it makes it impossible to give good legal advice,” Gorisch said.

Roy’s legislation aims to administer strict policies on immigration until the federal government passes legislation to reform its policies.

“The public sees that President Trump has fixed the border issue,” Jenks said. “Right now, the public pressure that I see is on H-1B visas.”