On Tuesday, Jan. 30, Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union address as president. He covered a wide array of topics in his speech, including but not limited to immigration, infrastructure, opioids, and national security.
Nielsen, a data analytics company, estimates that around 45.6 million people tuned in to watch President Trump deliver his address. Polls have shown that the American peoples’ reaction was generally positive – 75 percent approved of the speech and 80 percent expressed that they believe he was trying to unite, rather than divide the country, according to a USA Today report.
Trump called for a bipartisan approach, especially for the issue of immigration. He outlined four pillars of change to the current immigration system, which he described as “broken.”
The first pillar is to provide a path to citizenship to 1.8 million undocumented immigrants; the second is to develop a “fully secured border;” the third is to end the visa lottery; and the fourth is to limit the amount of family members an immigrant can bring with them to the United States.
“A single immigrant can bring in virtually unlimited numbers of distant relatives,” Trump said. “Under our plan, we focus on the immediate family by limited sponsorships to spouses and minor children.”
The New York Times reported that although immigrants can bring in their relatives, any individual applying for residency must first go through national security and criminal background checks.
The system is also backlogged; data shows that as of Nov. 1, over 3.9 million people are still waiting in line. Some petitioned for a visa as far back as 2004 and are just now having their clams processed, according to The Times.
Toward the end of his speech, Trump shifted to national security. He warned against North Korea’s pursuit of missiles which he said could “very soon” threaten the United States, according to a Fox News report.
He announced that prior to his entrance at the address, he signed an order instructing Secretary of Defense James Mattis to keep open Guantanamo Bay.
Democrats at times expressed contempt during Trump’s speech, refusing to applaud him and booing him as he addressed the immigration system.
“You cannot reject bipartisan plans to improve health care and protect Dreamers or sow hate and division — and then turn around the next day and say you want to work together,” said Democratic Senator Kamala Harris in a statement.
