Trump meets with lawmakers to discuss changes to legal immigration

President Donald Trump is moving forward on plans to restrict the number of people who legally come to the United States.

Trump's press secretary, Sean Spicer, said at a press briefing March 7 that Trump was meeting with lawmakers regarding changes to the immigration system.

"At this moment, the president is leading a discussion on immigration with Sen. (Tom) Cotton and Sen. (David) Perdue and members of the White House senior staff," Spicer said. "The president and the senators were expected to discuss the merit-based immigration reforms that the president mentioned at last week's joint address."

The Republican senators, Cotton from Arkansas and Perdue from Georgia, last month introduced legislation to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act. The senators propose reducing the number of family-sponsored immigrants; the creation of a new nonimmigrant classification for parents of adult U.S. citizens; limits to the president's discretion in number of refugees to be admitted per year (capping it to 50,000 a year), and the elimination of the diversity visa program. The program grants a limited number of visas per fiscal year to to individuals from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States.

The Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) Act seeks to reposition legal immigration toward employment-based visas and immediate family members of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents.

Cotton has said that of 1 million green cards issued a year, few are employment-based. We've found that to be Mostly True, as most are granted for family reunification.

The RAISE Act would lower overall legal immigration to about 638,000 individuals in the first year (from the current level of about 1 million a year) and to about 540,000 by its tenth year, Cotton said in a Feb. 7 press release.

Trump in his first speech before a joint session of Congress again set forth his vision to bring jobs back to Americans -- and said that will partly be achieved through changes to the immigration system.

"Protecting our workers also means reforming our system of legal immigration. The current, outdated system depresses wages for our poorest workers, and puts great pressure on taxpayers," Trump said Feb. 28.

"It is 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, will have many benefits. It will save countless dollars, raise workers' wages, and help struggling families -- including immigrant families -- enter the middle class."

Trump promised to limit legal immigration and has met with lawmakers who seek those changes in the immigration system. We rate this promise In the Works.