President Trump, whose tough talk and policies already have helped curb illegal immigration, now is targeting legal immigration with a proposal to Congress that would end "chain migration" and create a point system for access to green cards.

Trump Wednesday thanked Sens. Tom Cotton and David Perdue for sponsoring the plan, noting his team included the idea for a "merit-based immigration system that protects U.S. workers and taxpayers."

"That is why we are here today. Merit-based," he said. "The RAISE Act – R-A-I-S-E – the RAISE Act will reduce poverty, increase wages, and save taxpayers billions and billions of dollars. It will do this by changing the way the United States issues green cards to nationals from other countries."

The proposal allows a fast track to work authorization, permanent residency and citizenship, he said.

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The plan, he said, replaces the "very low-skilled immigration system, issuing record numbers of green cards to low-wage immigrants" that the U.S. has used for years.

America is headed down a suicidal path, contends Leo Hohmann in "Stealth Invasion: Muslim Conquest Through Immigration and Resettlement Jihad," available now at the WND Superstore.

"This policy has placed substantial pressure on American workers, taxpayers and community resources. Among those hit the hardest in recent years have been immigrants and, very importantly, minority workers competing for jobs against brand-new arrivals. And it has not been fair to our people, to our citizens, to our workers. The RAISE Act ends chain migration, and replaces our low-skilled system with a new points-based system for receiving a green card. This competitive application process will favor applicants who can speak English, financially support themselves and their families, and demonstrate skills that will contribute to our economy," he said.

Trump noted the plan eliminates welfare for newcomers and provides protections for U.S. workers.

"This legislation will not only restore our competitive edge in the 21st century, but it will restore the sacred bonds of trust between America and its citizens. This legislation demonstrates our compassion for struggling American families who deserve an immigration system that puts their needs first and that puts America first," he said.

Cotton, at a White House event, explained that in recent decades, the vast majority of newcomers – upward of a million a year – "come here not because of their English-language abilities or their job skills, or their job offer, or their educational attainment. In fact, only 1 in 15 – only 1 in 15 out of a million new immigrants come here because of their job skills and their ability to succeed in this economy."

That needs to change, he said.

The proposal will, he said, re-orient "our green card system toward people who can speak English, who have high degrees of educational attainment, who have a job offer that pays more, and a typical job in their local economy, who are going to create a new business, and who are outstanding in their field around the world."

Perdue added: "The reason we need to do this is very simple: Our current system does not work. It keeps America from being competitive, and it does not meet the needs of our economy today. Today, as Tom said, we bring in 1.1 million legal immigrants a year. Over 50 percent of our households of legal immigrants today participate in our social welfare system. Right now, only one 1 out of 15 immigrants who come into our country come in with skills that are employable. We've got to change that. As business guys, Mr. President, you and I understand we need we need a new approach: We need to fix this immigration system."

Trump pointed out that since his election, the United States has added "more than $4 trillion in net worth in terms of our country, our stocks, our companies."

And fixing immigration practices will only help that more.

The Senate plan aims to cut legal immigration in half, to about 500,000 per year, over the next decade.

It's a replacement plan for the current permanent employment-visa framework.

Newcomers with education, English-language abilities and high-paying job offers would be emphasized.

The measure makes a priority of immediate family members of U.S. residents, including spouses and minor children, but would end preferences for extended family members and adult children.

The president of Numbers USA, a group seeking tighter immigration limits, told the Washington Times the plan "will do more than any other action to fulfill President Trump's promises as a candidate to create an immigration system that puts the interests of American workers first."

"Our recent polling confirms that American voters overwhelmingly want far less immigration because they know mass immigration creates unfair competition for American workers," said the group's president, Roy Beck. "Seeing the president standing with the bill's sponsors at the White House gives hope to the tens of millions of struggling Americans in stagnant jobs or outside the labor market altogether."

WND reported last year Jason Richwine, an independent public policy analyst, said many Americans don't realize the scope of legal immigration.

"I think the more people understand just how large the numbers are, I think people will have a better sense of how we are entering, really, a historic period, at least unprecedented since the 1910s when we had a large percentage of foreign-born as well," said Richwine, an independent public-policy analyst.

Richwine pointed out that after the large immigrant influx of the 1910s, the U.S. passed laws in 1921 and 1924 to curtail the number of legal immigrants admitted each year. The resulting decline in new arrivals gave immigrants already in the U.S. a chance to assimilate and gave wages a chance to adjust.

"That would be a nice thing to do now," Richwine said. "It would be a great way of dealing with a lot of the enduring problems we have with various ethnic disputes and class disputes. If you turn off the immigration spigot or at least tighten it somewhat, then I think we'll have a better chance at dealing with some of these difficult social problems."

Richwine authored a study that found immigrants cost U.S. taxpayers about $6,200 per year in welfare benefits, but natives only cost taxpayers about $4,400. He said the price tag associated with immigration makes it an emotional issue for a lot of people.

America is headed down a suicidal path, contends Leo Hohmann in "Stealth Invasion: Muslim Conquest Through Immigration and Resettlement Jihad," available now at the WND Superstore.