AFP :
Dozens of immigrants in legal limbo-including a young teacher named America-will have front row seats for President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday, getting a close-up look at US history despite their own precarious status.
Trump’s primetime address will be delivered in the hallowed House of Representatives chamber, where immigrants from Chile, Guatemala, Mexico and South Korea will join US lawmakers, top administration and military officials, Supreme Court justices and foreign ambassadors. The speech-expected to touch on the divisive issue of immigration-comes as some 700,000 immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children, the so-called “Dreamers,” risk losing their protected status while the White House and Congress struggle to reach a deal on their fate.
For those supporting the Dreamers, the goal of their presence is simple: “Make sure the president is seeing the faces of young people who are contributing to our community every day,” said Michelle Lujan Grisham, chair of the largely Democratic Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
For America Moreno Jimenez, who immigrated from Mexico at age two with her parents and is now a public school teacher in North Carolina, it will be a very personal moment. “My name itself is a devotion to how much my family loves this country, and it’s sad to see that nothing has been done yet,” 24-year-old America told AFP, as congressman David Price, who invited her to the speech, stood nearby.
“I want to hear a decisive statement, one way or the other,” she said of Trump’s speech.
“Even if there is a negative outcome to what he has to say, at least we can take that and plan for our futures.”
Thousands of Dreamers like America will be
under threat of deportation if Congress does not legislate a fix to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which Trump scrapped last September and which expires on March 5. In a pointed message to the Republican president to break the immigration stalemate, more than two dozen Democratic lawmakers invited Dreamers to his speech.
They “make America more American,” top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi told Dreamers in the US Capitol. “You are the pride of America (and) you are here to stay.” Not if congressman Paul Gosar has a say in it.
The Republican from Arizona contacted US Capitol Police and Attorney General Jeff Sessions urging them to check identifications of those at the speech and arrest “any illegal aliens.”
“Of all the places where the Rule of Law needs to be enforced, it should be in the hallowed halls of Congress,” Gosar tweeted. The move infuriated Democratic lawmakers.
Dozens of immigrants in legal limbo-including a young teacher named America-will have front row seats for President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday, getting a close-up look at US history despite their own precarious status.
Trump’s primetime address will be delivered in the hallowed House of Representatives chamber, where immigrants from Chile, Guatemala, Mexico and South Korea will join US lawmakers, top administration and military officials, Supreme Court justices and foreign ambassadors. The speech-expected to touch on the divisive issue of immigration-comes as some 700,000 immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children, the so-called “Dreamers,” risk losing their protected status while the White House and Congress struggle to reach a deal on their fate.
For those supporting the Dreamers, the goal of their presence is simple: “Make sure the president is seeing the faces of young people who are contributing to our community every day,” said Michelle Lujan Grisham, chair of the largely Democratic Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
For America Moreno Jimenez, who immigrated from Mexico at age two with her parents and is now a public school teacher in North Carolina, it will be a very personal moment. “My name itself is a devotion to how much my family loves this country, and it’s sad to see that nothing has been done yet,” 24-year-old America told AFP, as congressman David Price, who invited her to the speech, stood nearby.
“I want to hear a decisive statement, one way or the other,” she said of Trump’s speech.
“Even if there is a negative outcome to what he has to say, at least we can take that and plan for our futures.”
Thousands of Dreamers like America will be
under threat of deportation if Congress does not legislate a fix to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which Trump scrapped last September and which expires on March 5. In a pointed message to the Republican president to break the immigration stalemate, more than two dozen Democratic lawmakers invited Dreamers to his speech.
They “make America more American,” top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi told Dreamers in the US Capitol. “You are the pride of America (and) you are here to stay.” Not if congressman Paul Gosar has a say in it.
The Republican from Arizona contacted US Capitol Police and Attorney General Jeff Sessions urging them to check identifications of those at the speech and arrest “any illegal aliens.”
“Of all the places where the Rule of Law needs to be enforced, it should be in the hallowed halls of Congress,” Gosar tweeted. The move infuriated Democratic lawmakers.
