Yaritza Mendez is an American citizen thanks to an immigration system that has been built around family connections for more than 50 years.

Since 1965, immigrants-turned-American citizens can serve as sponsors to their parents, children and siblings and help them become legal residents and then U.S. citizens. It's a system that allowed Mendez's grandmother to bring her son to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic about a decade ago, which in turn allowed him to sponsor her.

The family-based immigration system would be completely upended by proposed legislation that got an endorsement from President Donald Trump on Wednesday. The proposal would drastically reduce who's eligible for family visas and cut overall immigration by 50 percent within 10 years, giving a preference to English speakers, educated immigrants, high-wage earners and others.