Add it in two steps, and it's good to make it unsigned too:
public function up()
{
Schema::create('priorities', function($table) {
$table->increments('id', true);
$table->integer('user_id')->unsigned();
$table->string('priority_name');
$table->smallInteger('rank');
$table->text('class');
$table->timestamps('timecreated');
});
Schema::table('priorities', function($table) {
$table->foreign('user_id')->references('id')->on('users');
});
}