Polished Trump Gives Anti-Immigrant Arguments a Makeover in Congressional Address

[...] he announced a new agency, “Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement,” that will address crimes committed by illegal immigrants.

Trump took care not to frame his attack in racial terms — he even started his speech by denouncing recent vandalism of Jewish community centers and condemning an attack on Indian immigrants in Kansas last week.

[...] Trump drew a connection between illegal immigration and violent crime by welcoming guests Jessica Davis and Susan Oliver — both widows of California police officers killed by an illegal immigrant in 2014 — and Jamiel Shaw Sr., whose son was shot by a gang member in Los Angeles in 2008.

Trump has repeatedly used crimes committed by immigrants as an argument for his contentious immigration policies, though statics show that U.S. violent crime rate has decreased dramatically since 1990.

The president took credit for keeping thousands of jobs from leaving the country, telling Congress that since the election, “Ford, Fiat-Chrysler, General Motors, Sprint, Softbank, Lockheed, Intel, Walmart, and many others, have announced that they will invest billions of dollars in the United States and will create tens of thousands of new American jobs.”

“Tonight I’m also calling on this Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare with reforms that expand choice, increase access, lower costs and at the same time provide better health care,” Trump said.