Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Trump says he’s open to
immigration ‘compromise’
WASHINGTON
(AP)
— President Donald Trump,
signaling a potential shift on
a signature issue, indicated
Tuesday that he’s open to
immigration legislation that
would give legal status to
some people living in the
U.S. illegally and provide
a pathway to citizenship to
those brought to the U.S.
illegally as children.
The president, in a lunch
with news anchors ahead of
his address to Congress on
Tuesday night, said, “The
time is right for an immigra-
tion bill as long as there is
compromise on both sides.”
A person with knowledge of
the discussion confirmed his
comments to The Associated
Press on the condition of
anonymity.
Trump campaigned as
an immigration hardliner,
vowing to build a wall along
the U.S.-Mexico border and
pledging to step up deporta-
tions.
Since taking office, some
of his policy moves have
hewed closely to those prom-
ises, including new guidance
from the Department of
Homeland Security that
would subject any immigrant
in the country illegally
to deportation if they are
charged or convicted of any
offense, or even suspected of
a crime.
But the president also
has suggested he is open to
finding a solution for the
so-called Dreamers — those
who were brought to the
U.S. illegally as children.
Although he railed against
President Barack Obama’s
executive actions to protect
those immigrants from
deportation
during
the
campaign, Trump has not
rolled back those safeguards
and has suggested he has
other priorities.
During a White House
news conference earlier this
month, Trump said he would
deal with the Dreamers with
“great heart” but didn’t say
what his administration’s
policy would be. He called
their status “one of the most
difficult subjects I have,
because you have these
incredible kids.”
Immigration
activist
Astrid Silva, who came to
the U.S. as a child, was slated
to deliver a Spanish version
of the Democratic response
to Trump’s Tuesday night
address.
Trump has flirted with a
more lenient immigration
policy before, saying during
the campaign that he was
open to “softening” his
position. But he ultimately
landed where he started,
declaring during a speech
in September that under his
presidency, there would be
“no legal status or becoming
a citizen of the United States
by illegally entering our
country.”
Congress last took up
immigration legislation in
2013, after Hispanic voters
overwhelmingly
backed
Obama in his re-election
campaign.
A
measure
including a pathway to citi-
zenship passed the Senate,
but stalled in the House.
East Oregonian
Page 7A
NATION/WORLD
Trump: ‘time to join forces’ to fix U.S. problems
WASHINGTON (AP) —
Heralding a “new chapter of
American greatness,” Pres-
ident Donald Trump stood
before Congress for the
first time Tuesday night and
issued a broad call for over-
hauling the nation’s health
care system, significantly
boosting military spending
and plunging $1 trillion
into upgrading crumbling
infrastructure.
Striking an optimistic
tone, Trump declared: “The
time for small thinking is
over.”
Trump’s address came
at a pivotal moment for a
new president elected on
pledges to swiftly shake
up Washington and follow
through on the failed prom-
ises of career politicians.
His opening weeks in office
have been consumed by
distractions and self-in-
flicted wounds, including
the bungled rollout of a
sweeping immigration and
refugee executive order that
was blocked by the courts.
Trump, who typically
relishes flouting political
convention, embraced the
pomp and tradition of a pres-
idential address to Congress.
He stuck largely to his script,
made occasional overtures
to Democrats and skipped
the personal insults he so
often hurls at his opponents.
The
president
was
greeted by enthusiastic
applause as he entered the
House chamber, though it
was filled with Democrats
who vigorously oppose his
policies and many Repub-
licans who never expected
him to be elected. Most
Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool Image via AP
President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of
Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday.
Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Paul
Ryan of Wis. listen.
Republican lawmakers have
rallied around him since the
election, hopeful that he will
act on the domestic priori-
ties they saw blocked during
President Barack Obama’s
eight years in office.
Topping that list is
undoing Obama’s signa-
ture health care law and
replacing the sweeping
measure. Trump offered a
basic blueprint of his prior-
ities, including ensuring
that those with pre-existing
conditions have access to
coverage, allowing people
to buy insurance across
state lines and offering
tax credits and expanded
health savings accounts to
help Americans purchase
coverage. He suggested he
would get rid of the current
law’s requirement that all
Americans carry insurance
coverage,
saying
that
“mandating every American
to buy government-ap-
proved health insurance was
never the right solution for
America.”
Making a direct appeal
for bipartisanship, Trump
turned to Democrats and
said, “Why not join forces to
finally get the job done and
get it done right?”
Democrats,
now
firmly ensconced in the
minority, sat silently while
Republicans stood and
cheered. Some wore blue,
pro-health care buttons that
read “Protect our care,”
and dozens of Democratic
women wore white in honor
of the suffrage movement.
Trump was vague in his
call for tax reform, another
Republican priority. He
promised “massive tax relief
for the middle class” and a
reduction in corporate tax
rates, but glossed over how
he would offset the cuts.
The president also urged
Congress to pass a $1 tril-
lion infrastructure package
financed through both public
and private capital.
“The time has come for
a new program of national
rebuilding,” he said.
Trump sent unexpect-
edly mixed messages on
immigration, one of his
signature campaign issues.
He pledged to vigorously
target people living in the
U.S. illegally who “threaten
our communities and prey
on our citizens.” But he
told news anchors before
his speech that he was open
to legislation that could
provide a pathway to legal
status, and he told Congress
he believed “real and posi-
tive immigration reform is
possible.”
First
lady
Melania
Trump sat with special
guests who were on hand
to amplify the president’s
agenda, including the family
members of people killed
by immigrants living in the
U.S. illegally. The widow
of former Supreme Court
Justice Antonin Scalia also
sat alongside Mrs. Trump, a
reminder of the president’s
well-received nomination of
federal appeals court Judge
Neil Gorsuch to fill Scalia’s
seat.
The majority of Trump’s
address centered on the
domestic,
economic-fo-
cused issues that were at
the center of his presidential
campaign. His national
security message centered
largely on a call for signifi-
cantly boosting military
spending and taking strong
but unspecified measures
to protect the nation from
“radical Islamic terrorism.”
Trump also voiced
support for NATO but
reiterated his call for partner
countries to meet their finan-
cial obligations.