Trump opens door to immigration reform in speech to Congress

US Vice President Mike Pence (L) and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R) applaud as US President Donald J. Trump (C) arrives to deliver his first address to a joint session of Congress from the floor of the House of Representatives in Washington, DC, USA, 28 February 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he was open to a broad overhaul of the US immigration system, a shift from his hardline campaign rhetoric, as he made his first speech to Congress following a turbulent first month in office.

Trump, in a prime-time address to a country that remains divided a over his leadership, emphasized his desire to focus on problems at home by boosting the US economy with tax reform, a $1 trillion infrastructure effort and an overhaul of President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, known as Obamacare.

After an initial month in office dominated by a fight over his temporary travel ban on seven Muslim-majority nations, Trump looked for a reset to move past a chaotic period that sowed doubts about his ability to govern effectively.

US stock futures advanced at the start of Trump's address, but gave back some gains later in the speech.

Trump said a broad immigration reform plan was possible if both Republicans and Democrats in Congress were willing to compromise. He said US immigration should be based on a merit-based system, rather than relying on lower-skilled immigrants.

Comprehensive immigration reform eluded his two predecessors because of deep divisions within Congress and among Americans over the issue. Trump said reform would raise wages and help struggling families enter the middle class.

"I believe that real and positive immigration reform is possible, as long as we focus on the following goals: to improve jobs and wages for Americans, to strengthen our nation's security, and to restore respect for our laws," said the Republican president, who took a hard line against illegal immigrants in his 2016 campaign.

Trump has used his early weeks in office to repeat vows to build a wall along the US-Mexico border and intensify deportations of illegal immigrants who have committed crimes.

At the same time, he has expressed sympathy for children who entered the country when their parents crossed the border without proper authority, the "dreamers" who so far are protected by an ordered signed by Obama.

Trump voiced a need to persuade Americans to rally behind his agenda after a bitterly fought election, but he made his argument in terms of getting behind his effort for a "new chapter of American greatness."

Trump said he wanted to provide "massive tax relief" to the middle class and cut corporate tax rates. But he did not offer specifics and failed to comment on the most pressing tax issue facing Congress, a proposed border adjustment tax to boost exports over imports.

Lawmakers have been looking to Trump for more leadership on an issue that has divided corporate America and Republicans in Congress.

His speech was a far more conventional presidential speech than his Jan. 20 inaugural address, in which he painted a bleak picture of the country and described it as beset with "American carnage."

Trump called on the Republican-led Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare with reforms that expand choice, increase access and lower costs.

Republicans remain divided on how to accomplish that goal and Democrats are ardently opposed to tampering with a system that provides health insurance for millions of low-income Americans.

Former Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear said in the Democratic response to Trump's speech that "you and your Republican allies in Congress seem determined to rip affordable health insurance away from millions of Americans who most need it."

Reuters