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WASHINGTON President Donald Trump plans to join with two Republican senators to unveil legislation that would place new limits on legal immigration. It would seek an immigration system based on merit and jobs skills instead of family connections.

Trump was appearing with Republican Sens. David Perdue of Georgia and Tom Cotton of Arkansas at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the bill. The president said at an Ohio rally last month that he was working with the conservative senators to create a new immigration system for America.

Trump has made cracking down on illegal immigration a hallmark of his administration and has tried to slash federal grants for cities that refuse to comply with federal efforts to detain and deport those living in the country illegally.

His involvement will put him at the center of efforts to make changes to the legal immigration system. Previewing the event, White House officials said the bill would aim to create a skills-based immigration system to make the U.S. more competitive, raise wages and create jobs.

The White House said that only 1 in 15 immigrants comes to the U.S. because of their skills, and the current system fails to place a priority on highly skilled immigrants.

Perdue and Cotton introduced the legislation in February that would change the 1965 law to reduce the number of legal immigrants, limiting the number of people able to obtain green cards to join families already in the United States.

The bill would also aim to slash the number of refugees in half and eliminate a program that provides visas to countries with low rates of immigration.

Trumps appearance was aimed at bringing attention to the bill, which has been largely ignored in the Senate, with no other lawmaker signing on as a co-sponsor. GOP leaders have showed no inclination to vote on immigration this year.

Some immigrant advocates have criticized the proposal, saying that slashing legal immigration would hurt industries like agriculture and harm the economy.

Our system is broken, but the response should be to modernize it, not take a sledgehammer to it, said Jeremy Robbins, executive director of New American Economy, a group of business leaders, mayors and others backed by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg that advocates for comprehensive immigration reform.

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President Trump pushes immigration changes - fox8.com

July 31, 2017 10:15 PM

NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) Arrests of undocumented immigrants in North Texas have nearly doubled since President Donald Trump took office.

Statistics obtained by CBS 11 show theyve gone up by nearly 40 percent, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In a Fort Worth tortilla shop that doubles as a restaurant, almost everyone is an immigrant, both legal and not. This morning, an undocumented woman ate a late breakfast and planned for what she believes is inevitable deportation.

Its pure fear now, she said. If I talk to other immigrants, its the same. Just fear.

The mother and wife agreed to speak to CBS 11 if we didnt show her face or give her name. She says she came to the United States seven years ago to earn money to pay for her kids education in Mexico. Since Trump took office, she and her family have been saving money in case theyre deported.

We already bought boxes so we can start packing our things and sending them to Mexico, she said.

As a candidate, Trump said he would crack down on illegal immigration. As president, many say hes kept his word. CBS 11 obtained numbers showing how many undocumented immigrants were arrested in North Texas in the first few days of his presidency.

According to ICE, 2,586 undocumented immigrants were arrested in the first five months of 2016. In that same time period this year, 4,969 undocumented immigrants have been taken into custody. Thats an increase of almost 40 percent.

It should be 100 [percent], said Tim Bothe, a Fort Worth resident.

The presidents stance on immigration is a big reason Bothe voted for him. Bothe supports the approach ICE is taking under its new leadership.

ICE will no longer exempt any class of individuals from removal proceedings if they are found to be in the country illegally, said ICE in a statement.

Under the Obama Administration, ICE focused on so-called criminal immigrants, those who had felonies and other rap sheets. In the first 100 days of the Trump administration, ICE arrested 4,155 criminal immigrants and 814 non-criminal. In 2016, ICE arrested 2,337 criminal immigrants compared to 249 non-criminal immigrants.

Its our country, said Bothe. Are we not supposed to protect our rights and our families and all our citizens here in America?

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Arrests Of Undocumented Immigrants Climbing In North Texas - CBS DFW

Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday that the future of Europe's Balkan nations is with the West, reaffirming Washington's commitment to the region as Russia works to assert its historical influence there.

Pence spoke in Montenegro, his third and final stop in a European trip that saw him voicing support for nations pressured by Russia and highlighting U.S. allegiance to its allies overseas. He is the highest-ranking American official to visit the small Adriatic state in 100 years.

"We truly believe the future of the Western Balkans is in the West," Pence said in Podgorica, Montenegro's capital.

The Western Balkans refers to countries in the former Yugoslavia that aspire to or have already joined Western institutions, including the European Union and NATO. It also includes Albania.

Montenegro joined NATO in June, a move that angered Moscow. Russia had considered the country of 620,000 people, with an army of some 2,000 soldiers, its traditional Slavic ally.

Pence, who attended a summit of Balkan leaders Wednesday, praised Montenegro for standing up to Russian pressure. Its accession to NATO, Pence said, is "a sign of the strength of this country 10 years after independence."

"I bring greetings from President Donald Trump, who sent me here as a visible sign of the alliance that we now enjoy through NATO," the vice president said.

Russia is accused of masterminding an attempted coup in Montenegro in October to prevent it from joining NATO. Moscow has denied the allegations.

In his address to the Balkan leaders, on Wednesday, Pence called Russia an "unpredictable country" that wants to destabilize the region.

"As you well know, Russia continues to seek to redraw international borders by force and here in the Western Balkans, Russia has worked to destabilize the region, undermining your democracies and divide you from each other and from the rest of Europe," he said.

"The Western Balkans have the right to decide your own future, and that is your right alone," Pence said.

The Balkan states that are pro-West had feared Trump who once called NATO an obsolete organization would leave them to the Russian sphere of influence. Pence's trip appeared intended to alleviate those fears amid the investigations in Washington into Russia's efforts to interfere in last year' presidential election.

"NATO is made up of large countries and small countries, but the U.S. has no small allies and we cherish our new alliance with Montenegro through NATO," Pence said.

During a formal dinner with Montenegro President Filip Vujanovic on Tuesday evening, Pence said Montenegro's "courage, particularly in the face of Russian pressure, inspires the world and I commend you for that."

Serbia is Russia's only remaining ally in the Balkans, although Belgrade formally says it wants to join the European Union. Serbia has been beefing up military ties with Moscow, while also maintaining a partnership relationship with NATO.

Earlier in his tour, Pence pledged support for the former Soviet republic of Georgia and met with the presidents of three NATO countries Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in Estonia, where he said that "an attack on one of us is an attack on us all."

Georgia and the three Baltic nations were all occupied for nearly five decades by Soviet troops before regaining their independence in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

AP Writers Jovana Gec and Dusan Stojanovic contributed from Belgrade, Serbia.

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Vice President Pence says future of Balkans is 'in the West' - ABC News

President Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON President Trump will soon sign a law limiting his ability to lift sanctions against Russia, even though he has concerns about the measure, Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday.

The announcement during a visit to Tbilisi, Georgia, comes as no surprise, because the Trump administration had signaled it would not stand in the laws way. But it nonetheless carries significance: It is the first time that Congress, with both houses controlled by Trumps fellow Republicans, has imposed its will on the administration on a major policy matter, and the legislation has helped bring relations between Russia and the United States to one of its lowest points since the Cold War.

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At least in terms of diplomatic policy, the bet Russia might have made when, according to US intelligence agencies, it interfered in last years presidential election, has backfired in spectacular fashion. The legislation was revised, however, to address concerns by US oil and natural gas companies that do business with Russias energy sector.

Though he was asked by a reporter about the election interference, Pence did not explicitly address it, reiterating instead the administrations concerns about Russias destabilizing activities, including efforts to support rogue regimes.

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Trump will sign Russia sanctions law 'very soon,' Pence says - The Boston Globe

In a sea of 750 U.S. and Georgian troops at an airport in Tbilisi, the capital of the former Soviet republic of Georgia, stood Attleboro resident Pfc. Tom Copithorne, 21, tall and proud as he watched history unfold before him.

On Tuesday, Vice President Mike Pence spoke to U.S. and Georgian troops about how the United States will continue to support and protect Georgia against the Russian regime.

America first does not mean America only, the vice president told them. We are here to tell our friends in Georgia, we are with you. We stand with you and will stand with you as you pursue membership in NATO.

Copithorne, a 2014 Attleboro High School grad who joined the Army right out of high school, is one of the many soldiers taking part in a joint military exercise called Nobel Partner aimed to help Georgia get up to NATOs standards.

The goal, U.S. Army officials say, is to support the training, evaluation and eventual certification of Georgias second light infantry company contribution to the NATO Response Force.

Georgia is not a NATO member but voluntarily offers troops to the force.

Being a part of an exercise aimed to protect and unite Americas allies is something Copithorne said hes grateful to have been a part of.

And as Copithorne and his fellow U.S. troops stood in solidarity with the Georgian troops he realized he was a part of something far greater than himself.

After listening to Pence and Giorgi Margvelashvili, the president of Georgia speak, Copithorne was in for a surprise and was greeted by Pence for a hand shake and photo-op.

Copithorne later posted the shot to multiple social media sites with the caption, Its not everyday you get to meet Vice President Pence #usaarmy #USA #Georgia #OperationNoblePartner.

Its an honor to serve this country, Copithorne said. This was a very proud moment for me.

Abigail DesVergnes can be reached at 508-236-0340.

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Mike Pence Attleboro - The Sun Chronicle