In a bid to push for hardline immigration policies and maintain peace, Donald Trump unveiled his four-pillar immigration programme. He urged American citizens led by their politicians to remain united. During his one hour twenty minutes first State of the Union Address to the nation on Wednesday, the US President laid down the four pillars of his immigration programme. The four pillars include an end to the visa lottery system, ending chain migration, building the Southern border wall and the most contentious of all, offering citizenship to 1.8 million illegal immigrants.
In-Depth Look into the Pillars
Donald Trump’s first pillar framework generously offers a way for the 1.8 DACA programme protected illegal immigrants. The immigrants were brought to America illegally when they were at a young age. Donald Trump said the pillar is a halfway compromise to welcome an immigration deal with the Democrats. He will offer to provide the 1.8 immigrants with a 10 to 12-year pathway for citizenship in exchange for funding towards the border wall.
His second pillar was about the border wall. Trump needs to secure funding to build the Southern border wall. The move is also planned to secure his conservative supporters as he looks to bag November Congressional elections.
The President’s third pillar brings to an end the visa lottery immigration programme. It was a program that randomly handed out green cards to random people warranting them to come to America. The program had no regard for the type of skill one processed, merit to the green card or safety concerns.
The final pillar ends chain migration. Chain migration is the ability of a legal immigrant to bring other members of their family into the United States. Trump reiterated that this pillar will protect the nuclear family. He chose to ignore the benefits chain migration had on other families who wished to bring their relatives to the United States of America.
Reactions by Lawmakers in Congress
Republicans welcomed the immigration proposals. Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma said that Trump tried to strike a middle ground between the Republicans and Democrats. He added that their Democratic colleagues (Democrats) probably will imply that Trump has not compromised enough but one cannot deny that he has compromised.
Democrat Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont said Trump,s call for unity after a year of race-baiting, divisive actions and petty insults ‘rings hollow.’
