President Donald Trump has endorsed legislation that would cut the number of legal immigrations allowed into the United States by half over the next decade.

As the Washington Post reports:

The new proposal calls for drastic cuts to family-based immigration programs that allow siblings and grown children of U.S. citizens and legal residents to apply for green cards. (Minor children and spouses would still be able to apply.) A point system based on factors such as English ability, education levels and job skills would be created to rank applicants for the 140,000 employment-based green cards distributed annually.

The restriction on education, skills and language ability led to a tense debate in Wednesday afternoon’s press briefing.

We take a look at the tough path to passage for this legislation and what the president hopes to gain from this fight.

GUESTS

Jeremy Robbins, Executive director of the New American Economy, a coalition of business leaders and mayors focused on immigration reform.

Eric Schurenberg, President and Editor-in-Chief of Inc. Magazine

For more, visit http://the1a.org.

© 2017 WAMU 88.5 – American University Radio.

Copyright 2017 WAMU 88.5. To see more, visit WAMU 88.5.

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