Donald Trump gave his first State of the Union speech tonight, and it was as anti-immigrant as many had predicted. He touted an immigration proposal that would slash legal immigration by unprecedented levels while turbo-charging the Administration’s deportation force. He demonized immigrants and used tragedies to justify rounding up Latino families. He told the nation that “Americans are dreamers too,” without acknowledging that Dreamers are Americans too.
As our Executive Director, Frank Sharry, said, Trump “is a President who divides, denigrates and dehumanizes based on a worldview that some are worthy and most are not.”
From Cristina Jimenez, the cofounder of United We Dream:
Trump created this crisis for immigrant youth. And now, he is using that crisis to demand the nation buy his white supremacist plan to go after our parents, Black immigrants and people seeking refuge.
Echoed Elizabeth Guzman, the newly-sworn-in Virginia delegate who gave the Spanish-language response to Trump’s speech:
My experiences have been a testament to the incredible promise that our nation holds, one we feel proud to call home – a nation that shines like a beacon to the world and that inspires us so that we may dare to achieve our own American dream.
Unfortunately, the President of the United States does not share this vision for our country. In his first year in office, he has pushed a dark and extremist agenda that damages our national values and endangers national security.
And from Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-MA), who gave the English-language response:
To all the Dreamers watching tonight, let me be clear: Ustedes son parte de nuestra historia. Vamos a luchar por ustedes y no nos vamos alejar. You are a part of our story. We will fight for you. We will not walk away.
View some of the other responses from Dreamers and advocates who live-tweeted and responded to Trump’s speech:
