Washington, February 6
President Donald Trump made yet another strong pitch for merit-based immigration in his annual State of the Union address, saying legal immigrants enrich the US in countless ways, raising hopes of hundreds of thousands of Indian IT professionals who are the worst sufferers of the current per country quota system.
Indian-Americans, most of whom are highly skilled and came to the US mainly on H-1B work visas, are the worst sufferers of the current immigration system, which imposes a 7 per cent per country quota on allotment of Green Cards or permanent legal residency.
In his second State of the Union (SOTU) address, President Trump said: "We have a moral duty to create an immigration system that protects the lives and jobs of our citizens.” The address is a traditional annual speech of the US President to a joint session of Congress where he gives an account of the situation in the country.
The lawless state of the southern Mexico border is a threat to the safety, security and financial well-being of all Americans, he said. “This (moral duty) includes our obligation to the millions of immigrants living here today, who followed the rules and respected our laws. Legal immigrants enrich our nation and strengthen our society in countless ways. I want people to come into our country, but they have to come in legally,” Trump said.
He said his administration has sent to Congress a commonsense proposal to end the crisis on the southern border. “It includes humanitariaid, more law enforcement, drug detection at our ports, closing loopholes that enable child smuggling, and plans for a new physical barrier, or wall, to secure areas between our ports of entry. “In the past, most of the people in this room voted for a wall — but the proper wall never got built. I'll get it built,”he said.
He also called for ending the chain migration, the fastest and easiest way to gain legal entry into America, through sponsorship by a family member who is already a US citizen. — PTI
To meet N Korea’s Kim in Vietnam
Trump would hold his second meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam on February 27-28, while giving himself credit for averting a war on Korean Peninsula. He said much work remained to be done in the push for peace with N Korea, but cited the halt in its nuke testing and no missile launches in 15 months as proof of progress.
Reciprocal tariffs
Trump vowed to rectify “calamitous” trade policies and sought to expand his power to impose reciprocal tariffs, which could have implications on bilateral trade with nations such as India.
‘Reject politics of revenge’
We must reject the politics of revenge, resistance and retribution and embrace the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise and the common good. —Donald Trump, US President
from The Tribune http://bit.ly/2WMy19H
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