Merit-based immigration, end of visa lottery: Donald Trump's vision in first State of the Union address

WASHINGTON DC: In his first State of the Union Address to the nation on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump laid down the four pillars of his immigration programme which includes offering citizenship to 1.8 million illegal immigrants and ending the visa lottery system. The other two pillars are building a wall on the Southern border and ending chain migration. 

“The first pillar of our framework generously offers a path to citizenship for 1.8 million illegal immigrants who were brought here by their parents at a young age. 

“ The second pillar fully secures the border. That means building a wall on the Southern border, and it means hiring more heroes like CJ to keep our communities safe

“The third pillar ends the visa lottery -- a program that randomly hands out green cards without any regard for skill, merit, or the safety of our people.

“The fourth and final pillar protects the nuclear family by ending chain migration,” said Trump.

These four steps will also help end opioid and drug addiction, added the US President. 

Asking the Congress to support the war against terrorism, Trump said, “I am asking Congress to ensure in the fight against ISIS and Al-Qaeda, we have all necessary power to detain terrorist wherever we track them down, wherever we find them.”

He further asked the house to fully fund the American Army.

Trump also invoked the great “American Dream” and re-counted his successes in the last one-year. 

“If you work hard, if you believe in yourself, if you believe in America, then you can dream anything, you can be anything, and together we can achieve anything at all.

“This is in fact our new American moment. There has never been a better time to start living the American dream,” said Trump in his hour-long speech. 

Trump further asked the Republicans and Democrats to work toward together to compromise on immigration and infrastructure.

"Tonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people we were elected to serve," said Trump.

Taking credit for several economic gains such as jobs growth, tax cuts and soaring stock market, Trump laid forward his future plans which include bringing down drug prices and a legislation on international criminal gang MS-13.

The State of the Union Address is most important events in the US political calendar. As per traditionally, Trump also used it as an opportunity to honour the achievements of ordinary Americans who are invited by the president to sit with the first lady.