Americans First Immigration Act (S. 5485): What Green Card Applicants Should Know

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On September 23, 2026, Senator Tommy Tuberville introduced the Americans First Immigration Act (S. 5485). The bill proposes major changes to family-sponsored immigration, employment-based green cards and the Diversity Visa Lottery.

This is a bill, not a change in current law. It has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Existing immigration categories and filing rules remain in effect while Congress considers it.

U.S. Government Publishing Office GovInfo record confirming the introduction and committee referral of S. 5485

Source: U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), S. 5485 introduced bill record.

What Would the Americans First Immigration Act Change?

The introduced bill text addresses three major immigration pathways:

Pathway	Proposal
Family sponsorship	Remove parents of U.S. citizens from the immediate-relative category and eliminate several categories for adult children and siblings. Sponsorship would focus on spouses and qualifying children.
Employment-based green cards	Replace the current preference categories, including EB-1, EB-2, EB-3 and EB-5, with a points-based system considering factors such as education, English proficiency, compensation and achievement. The proposed process generally requires a qualifying U.S. job offer.
Diversity Visa Lottery	Eliminate the Diversity Visa program, commonly called the green card lottery. This is separate from the H-1B selection process.

Section 5 of the introduced bill outlines the proposed points-based replacement for existing employment-based immigrant visa categories.

The inclusion of EB-5 matters for investor families: the bill does not preserve the existing investor category as an exception to its proposed employment-based overhaul. None of these changes applies today.

For families evaluating EB-5 under current rules, ARCFE’s guide to the EB-5 capital stack explains how an investment’s position in a project affects risk and repayment priority.

What Would Happen to Existing Applications?

The proposed transition provisions distinguish between pending petitions and approved petitions whose beneficiaries are still waiting for visas.

If enacted as written, certain affected family petitions pending when the law takes effect could no longer be approved. The bill sets a later effective date for replacing the employment-based categories; EB-1, EB-2, EB-3 and EB-5 petitions still pending on that date would also face the proposed restriction. Some beneficiaries with petitions approved before the applicable date could receive visas under limited transitional allocations. An approved petition would not, by itself, guarantee a visa under the proposal.

This distinction is particularly relevant to India-born EB-2 and EB-3 applicants who may wait for visa availability after I-140 approval, as reflected in the October 2026 Visa Bulletin. A pending petition, an approved petition and an already issued green card are different stages of the process.

What Should Applicants Do Now?

Continue preparing and managing applications under current law. Families with a case in progress can confirm the petition’s status, visa availability and next filing steps with immigration counsel. There is no reason to assume that filing or securing petition approval now would guarantee protection from a future law.

For prospective EB-5 investors, source-of-funds preparation and project due diligence remain useful work regardless of this bill’s progress. ARCFE will continue tracking the legislation and its proposed transition provisions while helping families assess EB-5 opportunities under the rules in force today.

This article reflects the text and status of S. 5485 available as of October 10, 2026. The bill has not become law and may change during the legislative process. This article is for general information and does not constitute immigration, legal or investment advice. EB-5 investments involve risk; neither immigration approval nor return of capital is guaranteed.

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