Trump pushes hardline immigration policies

US President Donald Trump urged lawmakers on Tuesday to work towardbipartisan compromises, but pushed a hard line on immigration, insistingon a border wall and other concessions from Democrats as part of anydeal to protect the children of illegal immigrants.Trump, in his first State of the Union speech, gave no ground on thecontentious issue of whether to shield young immigrants known as“Dreamers” from deportation.Aiming to keep conservative supporters happy as he looks to Novembercongressional elections, Trump stood by a set of principles opposed byDemocrats, including the border wall with Mexico and new restrictions onhow many family members that legal immigrants can bring into the UnitedStates.“Tonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seekout common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for thepeople we were elected to serve,” Trump said in his address.Trump used the hour-and-20-minute speech, given annually by presidentsto Congress, to try to overcome doubts about his presidency at a timewhen he is battling a probe into his campaign’s alleged ties with Russiaand suffering low job approval ratings.Trump made no mention of the federal probe into whether his campaigncolluded with Russia in the 2016 presidential election, a controversythat is dogging his presidency.Trump has denied collusion and has called the probe a “witch hunt.”The speech was short on details about Trump’s policy proposals.But his sober, measured approach was welcomed by the public.A CNN/SSRS snap poll said 48% of those surveyed had a “very positive” response to the speech and 22% “somewhat positive.”There was little sign of unity inside the House of Representatives chamber where Trump spoke.Republican lawmakers cheered wildly at the president’s applause lines.Democrats often sat in their seats silently and many booed when he laid out his immigration proposals.Turning to foreign policy late in the speech, Trump denounced the“depraved character” of North Korea’s leadership and said Pyongyang’s“reckless pursuit of nuclear missiles could very soon threaten ourhomeland.”“We are waging a campaign of maximum pressure to prevent that from happening,” he said.In a surprise moment, he singled out a North Korea defector in thecrowd, Ji Seong-ho, as an example of what he called the reclusivecountry’s brutal nature.Trump also said he had signed an order to keep open the US militaryprison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for foreign terrorism suspects.Former Democratic president Barack Obama had vowed to close the prison,which has been condemned by human rights groups, but was unable to shutit down completely.Whether Trump would follow through on his appeal for bipartisan harmony was far from clear.Trump’s past attempts at a unifying message have been undermined by hislater rancorous tweets and divisive statements that angered Democratsand frequently annoyed lawmakers in his own Republican Party.The unity plea will first be put to the test in his drive for acompromise on protecting 1.8mn Dreamers — people brought illegally tothe country as children — who face a March 5 deadline on whether theycan begin to be deported.Republicans welcomed Trump’s immigration proposals, with US SenatorJames Lankford of Oklahoma saying Trump tried to strike a middle ground.“My Democratic colleagues can say he didn’t move enough, but you can’tdeny he moved a lot. There are people in his core base who think he hasmoved way too far.” But Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat and the longest-servingsenator, said Trump’s words about unity, after a year of “divisiveactions, petty insults and disgraceful race-baiting...ring hollow.”Trump said he was “extending an open hand” for an immigration deal andthat he would provide Dreamers a pathway to citizenship over 10 to 12years in exchange for funding the border wall, which he promised duringhis campaign, and restrictions on legal immigration.He called his plan a “down-the-middle compromise,” but some Democratshissed when he said he wanted to rein in “chain migration,” the abilityof legal immigrants to bring a wide-ranging number of family membersinto the country.“Let’s come together, set politics aside and finally get the job done,” Trump said.Trump took credit for US economic gains including a soaring stock market and a low jobless rate.He boasted about the economic growth he believes will result from tax cuts Republicans pushed through Congress late last year.“This is our new American moment.There has never been a better time to start living the American Dream,” he said.Trump said he would like a compromise over a plan to rebuild ageing roads, bridges and other infrastructure.He said he wanted legislation to generate at least $1.5tn through acombination of federal, state and local spending as well asprivate-sector contributions.While Trump spoke of compromise, his speech provided some reminders of partisan battles over the past year.He singled out a speech guest, 12-year-old Preston Sharp, for leading aneffort to put American flags on the graves of 40,000 veterans, sayingthe initiative was “why we proudly stand for the national anthem.”His criticism of National Football League players who refused to standfor the anthem in protest against police shootings of minorities andracial disparities in the justice system, dominated headlines lastautumn.