Trump supporters boo mention of immigrants at inauguration speech

Washington, Jan 21 (IANS) The inauguration of Donald Trump as 45th President of the United States was marred by booing at the mention of immigrants during a speech, media reports said.

The address by Chuck Schumer, a Democratic member of the Senate Inauguration Committee, included a statement that immigrants and "native born" Americans are equal - which was greeted with a chorus of boos, reported The Independent.

Schumer said: "We Americans have always been a forward-looking, problem-solving, optimistic, patriotic and decent people.

"Whatever our race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, whether we are immigrant or native born, whether we live with disabilities or do not, in wealth or poverty, we are all exceptional in our commonly-held yet fierce devotion to our country."

The crowds of people at the inauguration included thousands of Trump supporters who gathered in Washington DC to see the Republican sworn in.

Trump had launched frequent verbal attacks on immigrant groups during the presidential campaign, pledging to introduce a "registry" of Muslims living in the US and deport 11 million undocumented migrants within the first two years of his presidency.

Speaking last year, he said: "We have some bad hombres, and we're going to get them out".

The Republican re-iterated the pledge after his victory against Hillary Clinton in November, although with a significantly lower estimate of how many people will be deported.

He told CBS News his administration would focus on border security and deporting "probably two million [or] even three million" undocumented migrants with criminal convictions, The Independent said.