The immigration bill proposed by Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and David Perdue, R-Ga., and supported by the White House could have unintended consequences, The Atlantic reports.

The bill would revise the 1965 Immigration Act, specifically the provision that allows legal residents and naturalized citizens to sponsor the immigration of their relatives. Currently, naturalized citizens can sponsor spouses, parents, children and adult siblings, while permanent residents can sponsor spouses, unmarried adult children, and children who are still minors. These make up for roughly two-thirds of immigrants who gain legal status.

Cotton and Perdue would shift the granting of visas to a "points-based" system, that would award points for certain skills or traits, such as knowledge of English, job training and income prospects.

"Immigrants from Latin America, who have significantly lower levels of education and English proficiency, would be disadvantaged, as would refugees. But immigrants from Asia, the Middle East, and Africa are more likely than the U.S.-born population to have at least some college education," notes the Atlantic's Tom Gjelten, who wrote "A Nation of Nations: A Great American Immigration Story."

Muslim immigrants are 25 percent more likely than U.S.-born citizens to have a college degree, while those from the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa tend to speak above-average English, according to the piece.

"Those immigration critics who think major amendments to the 1965 law might make the country less diverse could be surprised if the changes are implemented. While the bill would likely reduce the flow of some immigrant groups, it could well expand others in ways that would further reshape the American population," Gjelten concludes.