Trump wants ‘largest ever’ legal immigration
NEW YORK: President Donald Trump has said that he wants immigrants to come to the US in "largest ever numbers" legally, as he declared during his State of the Union address his determination to build the controversial border wall to deter illegal immigrants and smugglers.
Delivering the address to the joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, he said: "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. I want people to come into our country in the largest numbers ever, but they have to come in legally." His showdown with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, over funding for the border wall resulting in a 35-day government shutdown, delayed his speech by a week after she withdrew her initial invitation to speak. Trump ultimately backed down with a truce to allow the government to reopen temporarily to negotiate a deal with a February 15 deadline. He threatened to declare a State of Emergency if he did not get $5.7 billion funding for the barrier along the Mexico border and would use defence funds and the military to erect it. He did not announce an emergency in his speech, but without elaborating declared: "I'll get it built."