President Trump said Wednesday he wants more immigration because U.S. companies need more workers.

Trump, who often is viewed as hostile to immigrants, explained that his emphasis on ending illegal immigration does not mean he wants people to stop coming into the U.S. altogether, saying immigrants are welcome to enter the country legally.

“We want to have a very strong border, but we want to have a lot of people coming in,” Trump said during a White House meeting with more than 20 CEOs and officials from state and local governments. “A lot of people don’t understand that. They think we’re shutting it out. We’re not shutting it out. We want people to come in, but they have to come in through a process.”

The president highlighted the low unemployment rate, which he said currently sits at around 3.6 percent.

“We’re going to let a lot of people come in because we need workers,” Trump said on Wednesday afternoon “We have to have workers.

“These are low numbers, and in one way I love it, but in another way I don’t want to make it hard for you to get those companies rolling ... with really great people,” Trump told company and state executives. “Because without the great people, it doesn’t work.”

Trump appeared to make a special effort to emphasize his desire for new, but legal, immigrants.

“We’re going to have a lot of people coming into the country. We want a lot of people coming in, and we need it,” he said.

Trump also said he spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who said several Japanese companies are planning to come to the U.S., locating in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

“I was with Prime Minister Abe the other day, and he said ... that Japan’s going to be sending about seven — at least seven more big factories into this country,” Trump said.