WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump's new plan to overhaul the immigration system would require immigrants to learn English, create a new visa for highly skilled workers and revamp asylum laws in a push for more merit-based decisions on who is allowed to stay in the country.
Trump declared that the number of immigrants would neither increase nor decrease. He announced that his proposal would create a new "Build America Visa" for "extraordinarily talented individuals," high-skilled professionals and top graduate students from American universities. Democrats immediately denounced the proposal.
"Our proposal is pro-American, pro-immigrant and pro-worker," Trump said on Thursday in the White House Rose Garden. "It's just common sense. It will help all of our people including millions of devoted immigrants to achieve the American dream."