Trump backs move
President Donald Trump on Wednesday threw his weight behind efforts to give English-speakers priority for US residency cards and halving the number of legal migrants admitted to the country.
Trump backed proposals that would reform the process of obtaining a US "green card" by introducing a points-based system favoring skilled anglophone workers.
Around one million immigrants are granted permanent residency each year, but the draft legislation -- presented at the White House by Trump and two senators who crafted it -- aims to cut that number by around 50 percent.
It would also put a cap on the number of refugees able to gain permanent residency at 50,000 a year.
Trump hailed what he described as "the most significant reform to our immigration system in half a century."
The legislation has only a slim chance of passing in Congress.
It brought almost immediate rejection from influential South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, who said he favored a merit based system but said this proposal would have a "devastating" impact on his state's economy.
Critics say that the proposals would actually result in falling wages, by slashing the number of migrants creating jobs.
Trump's message is likely to resonate strongly with low-skilled white workers who have seen wages stagnate and believe their long-held cultural dominance is being eroded.
Trump has made tackling illegal immigration from Latin America a key plank of his politics. He has promised to build a "wall" on America's southern border with Mexico and tackle violent Hispanic gangs at home.
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