Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, is pressing for a merit-based immigration system, echoing what President Donald Trump has said in the past.
Hatch submitted several amendments to the Senate's immigration legislation Wednesday and said America should let skilled people through its front door.
"As I've long said, high-skilled immigration is merit-based immigration," Hatch said. "It's immigration targeted at the best, the brightest, and the most highly educated. The amendments I filed [Wednesday] are focused, commonsense reforms that will make a real difference for our economy.
"In particular, they will help streamline the process by which a worker with in-demand technical skills can obtain a green card and will cut back on some of the troubling abuses we've seen with the H-1B program. These are important reforms that can attract broad support, and I intend to pursue every opportunity to include them in the pending immigration bill."
The White House is pushing for lawmakers to pass a bill that would make the U.S. immigration system more merit-based, with the idea bringing skilled workers stateside would boost the economy.
Lawmakers have until March 5 to pass immigration reforms that would protect people who have benefited from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. A group of bipartisan senators said Wednesday they have come to a DACA deal, according to The Hill.