Donald Trump Speech to Congress Highlights 2017

On Tuesday evening President Donald Trump gave one of his most important speeches to date when he addressed the United States Congress.

It is no secret that despite triumphing in the elections held last November, his popularity among fellow politicians has left a lot to be desired. Many of his harshest critics have come from within in own party, although many republicans rallied around him following his victory, for the sake of unity and in order to not alienate their own voters.

Trump began his speech trying to strike a tone of reconciliation and unity before launching himself into his campaign promises, on deregulation, creating jobs, border security and putting America first, highlighting the steps he has already made in these areas.

Here is Trump`s full speech to congress

Donald Trump Immigration Comments September 2016

Donald Trump continues to create controversy in the United States and around the world for his hard line stance on illegal immigration in the world`s most powerful nation.

Trump surprised many with a brief visit to Mexico this week to meet with the president of that country, Enrique Peña Nieto, he seemed to strike somewhat of a conciliatory tone during the press conference there before returning to the US and giving a tough speech on immigration that very evening in Arizona.

Trump promised to hire more border enforcement agents and that the wall he plans to build would be complete with towers and above and below ground sensors.

The republican candidate insisted that his first priority as president would be to track down and deport illegal immigrants who have committed crimes within the country, stating that "within the first hour" of his presidency they would be gone.

Video Donald Trump in Mexico August 2016

Donald Trump will visit Mexico at the invitation of the President Enrique Peña Nieto.

The trip has provoked a wide array of reactions, with many criticizing Peña Nieto for receiving the businessman turned politician, given his comments about Mexico and illegal immigration from the country.

According to the official twitter account of the Mexican Presidency, the President invited both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to Mexico to meet with them and discuss relations between the two countries.

Donald Trump stoked controversy last year when announcing his run for president, claiming that "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. "

These statements have made him unpopular in Mexico and other parts of Latinamerica. Despite this Trump has repeatedly claimed that he will win the Latino vote in the upcoming election.

Migrant Arrivals Greece, Italy August 2016

On Monday a total of 6,500 migrants were rescued off the coast of Italy after setting sail from Africa. Migrants arriving on the European nation`s shores often come in waves, with many arriving when the weather is good and seas are calm.

This now brings the total number of arrivals to the country by boat to more than 110,000 during 2016, and over 400,000 have made the journey in the last 3 years.

Italy has been struggling to cope with the large amount of refugees and economic migrants and currently is housing at least 115,000 in temporary shelters and centers.

According to the IOM (International Organization for Migration) the main countries of origin for arrivals to Italy in July 2016 were Nigeria, Eritrea, Gambia, Ivory Coast and Sudan.

Greece is also starting to see an increase in migrant arrivals with 462 arriving between Monday and Tuesday morning, a marked increase on previous weeks, although far below 2015 levels.

The EU brokered a deal with Turkey to stem the flow of arrivals to Greece in exchange for aid and visa free travel for Turkish citizens. However the EU has yet to provide all of the aid and the visa free travel, citing concerns about human rights abuses in the country, this had lead Turkey to threaten to withdraw from the agreement if visa free travel is not granted by October.

Immigration Germany Statistics 2016

The population of Germany in 2015 grew by a total of 978,000 due to an influx of 1.1 million migrants, reaching 82.2 million people. The European economic powerhouse has been suffering from declining fertility rates and an aging population over the last few decades. During 2015 188,000 more people died than were born in the country, so the increase is down entirely due to migratory factors.

In 1960 Germany had a fertility rate of 2.29 children per woman (a culture needs a minimum fertility rate of 2.11 to sustain the population). However in 2015 this rate had dropped to a mere 1.3. The German population was predicted to decline to 74.5 million in 2050, possibly being eclipsed by the UK as the most populous country in Europe.

The solution undertaken appears to be to import mass numbers of young migrants in order to stem this demographic decline, however this has caused vast friction within the country with many fearful of violence from the newcomers (such as in Cologne on new years eve) and also possible infiltration of ISIS fighters into the country.