Emanuel Critical Of Trump's Immigration Plan
CHICAGO (CBS/WBBM) -- Mayor Rahm Emanuel is critical of the immigration reforms President Donald Trump outlined in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
Emanuel said it's wrong for anyone to demonize any part of society, which he said he feels Trump did when talking about undocumented immigrants during his speech.
"I want everybody -- regardless of what your original language, your original culture -- be proud of it, as I am of my own," the mayor said. "But we have one city, one future, and everybody has the chance to participate in that."
When Trump outlined his Administration's immigration plan Tuesday, he said officials have met "extensively" with both parties.
"Over the next few weeks, the House and Senate will be voting on an immigration reform package. In recent months, my Administration has met extensively with both Democrats and Republicans to craft a bipartisan approach to immigration reform. Based on these discussions, we presented the Congress with a detailed proposal that should be supported by both parties as a fair compromise -- one where nobody gets everything they want, but where our country gets the critical reforms it needs."
The four pillars of the plan:
- Offers a path to citizenship for 1.8 million illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. by their parents illegally as children
- Calls for construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border
- Ends the visa lottery -- "a program that randomly hands out green cards without any regard for skill, merit, or the safety of our people," Trump said. "It is time to begin moving towards a merit-based immigration system -- one that admits people who are skilled, who want to work, who will contribute to our society, and who will love and respect our country."
- The last pillar, Trump said, "protects the nuclear family by ending chain migration...Under our plan, we focus on the immediate family by limiting sponsorships to spouses and minor children."
The White House has called Trump's immigration plan a compromise both sides can support.
A CBS News poll conducted in the immediate aftermath of the speech indicated that it was a hit with viewers. Three in four Americans who watched the speech said they approved of it, with just a quarter saying they did not.
