President Donald Trump endorsed a plan this morning that will halve legal immigration levels beginning in 2027 and dramatically cut down on the number of green cards that are doled out to low-skilled workers.

The immigration system currently weighs familial ties in deciding who gets to come to the US. Two U.S Senators, Tom Cotton and David Perdue, want candidates with the most valuable skills to jump to the front of the line.

They unveiled legislation at the White House today that would replace the current green card system with a competitive application process that gives English speakers and applicants with desirable skill sets an edge.

Trump said in remarks that he delivered alongside the senators that the present policy 'has placed substantial pressure on American worker, taxpayers and community resources.'

'It has not been fair to our people, to our citizens, to our workers,' he asserted.

President Donald Trump endorsed a plan this morning that will halve legal immigration levels beginning in 2027 and dramatically cut down on the number of green cards that are doled out to low-skilled workers

Only a fifth of immigrants coming to the US currently are being admitted based on job-based factors, according to the New York Times.

Migration Policy Institute data from 2014 shows that 64 percent of immigrants were immediate family members or sponsored family members of American citizens, while 15 percent we admitted because of their skill set.

Another 13 percent of immigrants were admitted through the refugee and asylum programs and five percent won their entry through the State Department’s diversity lottery.

The lottery system is eliminated in the RAISE Act. The bill would cap lawful permanent resident status for refugees at 50,000 people a year.

Trump said Wednesday that he wants to flip the current immigration system on its head to 'reduce poverty, increase wages and save taxpayers billions and billions of dollars.'

Perdue and Cotton's' bill, known as the RAISE Act, would give applicants who speak English, can financially support themselves and have skills that will 'contribute to our economy' first preference in the green card process, Trump announced.

The rate of legal immigration would fall overall from 1 million people per year to 500,000 if enacted.

The president claimed the reforms would protect American workers and reduce the strain in the country's welfare system.

'That's a big thing. They're not going to come in and just immediately go and collect welfare. That doesn't happen under the RAISE act. They can't do that,' he stated.

Cotton said that under the current system the US is essentially adding the entire population of Montana to its ranks each year.

'It is an obsolete disaster, and it's time for it to change,' he said.

Perdue noted that he's the only Fortune 500 CEO in Congress.

'As business guys, Mr. President, you and I understand we need a new approach,' he told Trump, a billionaire. 'What we're introducing today is modeled on the current Canadian and Australian systems. It's pro-worker, it's pro-growth and it's been proven to work.'

Perdue said that 'we can all agree the goals of our nation's immigration system should be to protect the interests of working Americans, including immigrants, and to welcome talented individuals who come here legally and want to work and make a better life for themselves.

'Our current system makes it virtually impossible for them to do that.'

Cotton said Wednesday that under the current system the US is essentially adding the entire population of Montana to its ranks each year. 'It is an obsolete disaster, and it's time for it to change,' he stated

Trump told Congress in his first joint address to lawmakers in February that he wants to move to a 'merit-based' system of immigration.

'It’s a basic principle that those seeking to enter a country ought to be able to support themselves financially, yet in America, we do not enforce this rule, straining the very public resources that our poorest citizens rely upon,' Trump said.

'Switching away from this current system of lower-skilled immigration, and instead adopting a merit-based system, we will have so many more benefits,' he contended. 'It will save countless dollars, raise workers’ wages, and help struggling families - including immigrant families - enter the middle class.'

The White House said Wednesday that more than 50 percent of immigrant households are on welfare. That compares to the 30 percent of non-immigrant households.

'[It's] just a terrible system where anybody comes in,' Trump said a July 26 event.

Trump wants to adopt an immigration system that is points based like Canada's or Australia's to boost business and the national GDP.

Canada scores applicants based on their language proficiency, financial stability, employment prospects and educational background.

Stephen Miller, a senior policy advisor to the president, has been working on legislation that put in a place a similar system, with Cotton and Perdue.

He told reporters during a briefing on Wednesday afternoon the policy is based on 'common sense' and that lawmakers will have to take it up 'massive public push.'

'I think the more we have this conversation publicly and ask America who ought to get a green card in this country the more momentum there's going to be, the more support there's going to be,' Miller said, 'and our message to folks in Congress is, if you're serious about immigration reform then ask yourselves what's in the best interest of Americans and American workers and, ultimately, this has to be a part of that.'

The president claimed the reforms would protect American workers and reduce the strain in the country's welfare system. 'That's a big thing. They're not going to come in and just immediately go and collect welfare

Whether the legislation will even make it to the finish line is up for debate, however.

'It's a difficult one in the current Congress, and we know that,' a second Trump aide admitted to Politico.

A group of nearly 1,500 economists wrote Trump today to waive him off the RAISE Act.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, an economist to George H.W. Bush and a former head of the Congressional Budget Office, said in a statement that accompanied it that 'immigration is not just a good thing. It's a necessity.'

'They don't all have to be STEM workers,' he said of immigrants coming to America to join their families. 'Markets reward skills that have value and this day and age, running a machine tool is a skilled trade.

'You should have a visa system that recognizes market shortages and allows those skills to enter the United States,' he said.

The measure is likely to be opposed by Democrats on Capitol Hill who have fought Trump's other immigration actions tooth and nail, as well.

The president's deportation policies have broken up families whose only crime is their illegal entry into the country, members of the opposing party have said.

His Middle East travel ban that sought to exclude grandparents and cousins from coming to the US under a familial ties provision was another point of contention. The Supreme Court overruled the administration last month and said that both count as 'close family.'

Trump is proposing the changes to the legal immigration system on his former Homeland Security secretary's third day as chief of staff. Retired Gen. John Kelly has been central to Trump's efforts to reduce the number of illegal immigrants entering the country

'Donald Trump and Mike Pence keep pushing their anti-immigrant agenda, and now they’re seeking to deny millions the American Dream by dramatically cutting legal immigration and limiting family reunification,' Democratic Party Chairman Tom Perez fired back after Trump's speech.

The former Labor secretary to Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, went on to say his statement,'Instead of catching criminals, Trump wants to tear apart communities and punish immigrant families that are making valuable contributions to our economy.'

Trump proposed the changes to the legal immigration system on his former Homeland Security secretary's third day as chief of staff.

Retired Gen. John Kelly has been central to Trump's efforts to reduce the number of illegal immigrants entering the country, too.

Trump claimed at a cabinet meeting on Monday that illegal border crossings were down 80 percent since he took office and installed Kelly at DHS. The Washington Post's fact-checking department says that he cherry-picked the data, though.

Apprehensions from the highest point last fiscal year, November of 2016, had decreased by 76.4 percent as of April.

Looking at Trump's actual tenure, though, from his first full month in office, February to the latest available data set, June, the decline in apprehensions falls to 8 to 14 percent, the Post reported.

A year over year comparison from June 2016 to June 2017 shows a 52.6 percent decrease, the Post said, which is high, but not nearly has high as Trump has been claiming.

It gave him 'Four Pinocchios' - a rating it reserve for only the biggest 'whoppers' on Tuesday for his misleading claims.