Trump speech guests chosen to help highlight priorities

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is following the playbook for speeches to Congress and packing his guest box with individuals whose personal stories the administration hopes will put a face on the proposals he planned to highlight in Tuesday night's address, namely illegal immigration.

The lives of three of the eight people the White House invited to join first lady Melania Trump in a guest box high above the House floor for Trump's first address to a joint session of Congress were affected when loved ones' crossed paths with people who were living in the U.S. illegally.

Sitting with Mrs. Trump will be Jessica Davis and Susan Oliver, whose husbands, California law enforcement officers Michael Davis Jr. and Danny Oliver, were killed in the line of duty in 2014 by a man living in the country illegally.

Trump opened his presidential campaign vowing to crack down on illegal immigration and build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

[...] to the administration's guests, some congressional Democrats have invited immigrants and foreigners as their guests in an attempt to put a face on those who could be hurt by Trump's policies.