Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville called for an end to mass migration during remarks from the Senate floor, arguing that immigrants coming to the United States need to assimilate into American culture or leave the country.

“Mass migration is destroying our educational system,” Tuberville said. “It is destroying it. Go to any high school, and I can show you examples. More and more American kids are entering the classroom, hearing multiple languages being spoken around them every day, and having a difficult time making friends because they are now the minorities in the schools. We’re having enough problems with our education system when our kids can’t understand the language that the other people are speaking. That goes with our higher education who have teachers and professors coming from other countries that can’t speak English that are teaching our kids in higher education, and our kids are paying a fortune to go these four-year schools. Enough’s enough.”

Tuberville also argued that the United States should prioritize English language use both in schools and in public life. “This is an English-language country, and that’s how we speak. That’s how we communicate. Approximately five million students in US public schools are classified as English learners. Five million can’t speak English in our public schools across the country. It is destroying us. Ten to 11 percent of [the] K-12 population and growing every day, and we got our eyes closed,” he said.

The Alabama senator also voiced strong support of the Trump administration’s deportation efforts, saying the country’s immigration system should be aimed at benefiting “hardworking American taxpayers.”

“Do you think mass immigration is benefiting this country? Absolutely not,” Tubverille continued. “There’s not one benefit to it. It’s the exact opposite of what we should be doing. Mass immigration is a leech that is slowly bleeding this country dry and politicians and the people across the country better open their eyes. There has been a lot of talk over the past few years about deportation. I’m 100 percent [supportive] of what President Trump’s doing. They got to go home. We can’t afford them. American taxpayers, they need help.”

Tubverville announced that he would introduce legislation called the Assimilation Act, which is aimed at reshaping US immigration policy to prioritize merit-based immigration and stricter enforcement.

“My bill is simple. It says America has a right to set immigration policy in the national interest. It says our system should favor people who will work hard, contribute, support themselves, and strengthen the United States of America. It says we should move away from chain migration policies and away from visa lottery systems that treats every entry into the United States like a raffle drawing. What an embarrassment.

“It says legal immigration should place higher value on skill, merit, economic contribution, and the ability to succeed without becoming a dependent on the American taxpayers. It says temporary worker programs should serve the American economy, not undercut the American worker. It says we should take visa overstays seriously, address parole abuse, and restore credibility to the rule of law. And it says that citizens in the United States should once again reflect commitment, character, and real civic integration.”