This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/28/us/politics/trump-address-congress.html

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Trump Says He’s Open to Legal Pathway for Undocumented Immigrants Trump Says He’s Open to Legal Pathway for Undocumented Immigrants
(about 3 hours later)
WASHINGTON — President Trump, signaling a potential major shift in policy, told news anchors on Tuesday that he is open to a broad immigration overhaul that would grant legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants who have not committed serious crimes. WASHINGTON — President Trump, signaling a potential major shift in policy ahead of his first address to Congress, told television news anchors on Tuesday that he is open to a broad immigration overhaul that would grant legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants who have not committed serious crimes.
“The time is right for an immigration bill as long as there is compromise on both sides,” the president told the TV anchors at the White House, according to people present during the discussion. The people requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the private meeting. “The time is right for an immigration bill as long as there is compromise on both sides,” the president told the TV anchors at the White House, according to people present during the discussion. Those present requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the private meeting.
The idea is a sharp break from the broad crackdown on undocumented immigrants that Mr. Trump has taken in his first weeks in office and the hardline positions embraced by his core supporters that helped sweep him into the White House. The president hinted at the reversal just hours before he was to deliver his first address to Congress, although it was not clear whether he would mention it in his speech. The idea is a sharp break from the broad crackdown on immigrants in the country illegally that Mr. Trump ordered in his first weeks in office and the hard-line positions embraced by his core supporters that helped sweep him into the White House. The president hinted at the reversal just hours before he arrived on Capitol Hill to deliver his address to a joint session of Congress.
A move toward a comprehensive immigration overhaul would be a dramatic turnaround for the president, whose campaign rallies rang with shouts of “build the wall!” on the Mexican border and who signed an executive order last month directing the deportation of any undocumented immigrant who has committed a crime — whether or not they have been charged — or falsified any document. The standard could apply to virtually any one of the estimated 11 million people in the country illegally. A move toward a comprehensive immigration overhaul would be a dramatic turnaround for the president, whose campaign rallies rang with shouts of “build the wall!” on the Mexican border and who signed an executive order in January directing the deportation of any unauthorized immigrants who have committed a crime — whether or not they have been charged or convicted — or falsified a document. The standard could apply to virtually any one of the estimated 11 million people in the country illegally.
The White House did not dispute the report, but Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the deputy press secretary, said she had not witnessed the conversation so was unable to confirm it. But the president did plan to use the speech to frame his policies, including his strict approach on immigration enforcement.
“The president has been very clear in his process that the immigration system is broken and needs massive reform, and he’s made clear that he’s open to having conversations about that moving forward,” Ms. Sanders said. “Right now, his primary focus, as he has made over and over again is border control and security at the border and deporting criminals from our country, and keeping our country safe, and those priorities have not changed.” “By finally enforcing our immigration laws, we will raise wages, help the unemployed, save billions of dollars,and make our communities safer for everyone,” Mr. Trump planned to say, according to excerpts fromhis remarks provided by the White House.
In his potential shift, Mr. Trump went so far on Tuesday as to raise the idea of granting citizenship to young undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, one person present said. Such a change would go well beyond the temporary work permits President Barack Obama offered them through a 2012 executive order.
During his campaign, Mr. Trump criticized Mr. Obama’s directive as an “illegal amnesty,” and promised he would immediately end the program if elected. But he has delayed acting on the matter since taking office and expressed sympathy for its beneficiaries, sometimes known as Dreamers.
The White House did not dispute Mr. Trump’s remarks to the television anchors, but Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the deputy press secretary, said she had not witnessed the conversation so was unable to confirm it.
“The president has been very clear in his process that the immigration system is broken and needs massive reform, and he’s made clear that he’s open to having conversations about that moving forward,” Ms. Sanders said. “Right now, his primary focus, as he has made over and over again, is border control and security at the border and deporting criminals from our country, and keeping our country safe, and those priorities have not changed.”
The president’s remarks about immigration came the day before Mr. Trump was to issue a new version of his executive order banning travel to the United States from seven predominantly Muslim countries and suspending the acceptance of refugees. The ban has been revised because of legal challenges.The president’s remarks about immigration came the day before Mr. Trump was to issue a new version of his executive order banning travel to the United States from seven predominantly Muslim countries and suspending the acceptance of refugees. The ban has been revised because of legal challenges.
Mr. Trump, appearing in the well of the House, was to defend his record of the past tumultuous 39 days and lay out his priorities for the coming weeks and months. The address to lawmakers was expected to be short on specifics and laden with the populist themes that powered Mr. Trump’s campaign.
The speech opened a new phase in a presidency that has so far been defined by unilateral actions and pronouncements and showed how much Mr. Trump now needs Congress to carry out the tax and health care overhauls and massive infrastructure rebuilding program he has promised.
The president planned to say he was eager to forge partnerships across partisan lines, even on some measures that appeared to be at odds with his promise to reduce government regulations and cut social spending.
“My administration wants to work with members in both parties to make child care accessible and affordable, to help ensure new parents have paid family leave, to invest in women’s health, and to promote clean air and clean water and rebuild our military infrastructure,” Mr. Trump planned to say.
He was expected to present himself as eager to put aside the vitriol of his campaign and his presidency — a message at odds with his time in office so far.
“The time for small thinking is over, the time for trivial fights is behind us,” Mr. Trump planned to say. “From now on, America will be empowered by our aspirations not burdened by our fears.”
The speech also reflected the war Mr. Trump is fighting with himself and his inner circle. Even as Mr. Trump held out the possibility of legal status for millions of undocumented immigrants, Melania Trump, the first lady, was hosting the families of victims of violent crime by such immigrants — a way of highlighting Mr. Trump’s belief that immigrants who lack legal status pose a grave threat to Americans and should be feared and removed, not embraced.
Mr. Trump has yet to propose major legislation to achieve his goals, with members of his cabinet and senior staff divided over key elements of tax and health care plans and congressional Republicans split on how to structure them. By this point in his presidency, Mr. Obama had established an active — if not always friendly — working relationship with a Democratic-led Congress, having signed into law a $787 billion package of spending and tax cuts intended to stabilize the economy.
Mr. Trump is expected to speak mostly in generalities about shared priorities, including pouring substantial new funding into the military, reducing the size of social programs, cutting taxes and regulations, and replacing Mr. Obama’s health care law with what Mr. Trump has said will be a cheaper and more effective alternative. He is not expected to speak at length about his plans for Social Security and Medicare, which he has pledged not to cut, or how he will tackle the nation’s deficit without touching the entitlement programs that are the primary drivers of it.
Democrats said Mr. Trump was making grandiose promises without laying out specific steps for achieving them, and doubling down on steps they argued had harmed Americans since he took office.
In the past, such gatherings have been the backdrop for dramatic confrontations between presidents and their opponents in Congress. In 2009, Representative Joe Wilson, Republican of South Carolina, interrupted a speech by Mr. Obama on health care to a joint congressional session, shouting, “You lie!” Democrats booed President George W. Bush during his 2004 State of the Union address when he called for a renewal of the Patriot Act.
To write the speech, Mr. Trump turned to the same top advisers who helped develop his inaugural address: Stephen Miller, his senior policy adviser, and Stephen K. Bannon, his chief strategist. The two were still working on the speech late Monday evening, aides said.
Mr. Miller and Mr. Bannon, both architects of the president’s tough immigration policies, were responsible for shaping the dark themes of the president’s speech on Inauguration Day.
But White House officials said Mr. Trump wanted to offer a more positive vision for the country’s future in Tuesday’s congressional address. They said the president drew inspiration for the speech from the frequent “listening sessions” he held at the White House in recent days with health care officials, law enforcement officers, coal miners, union representatives and others.