Washington, Jun 18 (PTI) President Donald Trump today pushed for a merit-based immigration system, saying it will help companies like Boeing and Lockheed hire people.

He reiterated his strong opposition to those trying to illegally enter into the country through a porus border.

“You take a look at the death and destruction that's been caused by people coming into this country without going through a process. We want a merit-based immigration system, so that Boeing and Lockheed and all of the people -- Grumman, all of the people that are here today, the heads of every company -- so that you can hire people on a merit-base,” Trump said in his address to the National Space Council meeting held at the White House.

“You know they're coming in, they're people that came on merit, not based on a lottery or not people that snuck across the border. And they could be murderers and thieves and so much else,” he said.

“We want a safe country. And it starts with the borders and that's the way it is,” he asserted.

The president said his administration wants safety and security for the country.

He said Democrats should come to the table to come to an agreement on immigration legislation.

“If the Democrats would sit down, instead of obstructing, we could have something done very quickly: good for the children, good for the country, good for the world," he said.

He said the US has the worst immigration laws in the world.

“We have the worst immigration laws in the entire world. Nobody has such sad, such bad and actually, in many cases, such horrible and tough -- you see about child separation, you see what's going on there. But just remember: A country without borders is not a country at all. We need borders. We need security. We need safety. We have to take care of our people,” said the US President.

He urged the Democrats to come to the table for resolving this issue rather than playing politics.

The opposition Democratic party leadership and rights activists have intensified their attack on Trump over his controversial immigration policy of separating children from their parents who illegally enter the US.

Trump has repeatedly called for the merit-based system to reduce overall immigration to the US.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)