President Donald J. Trump will make his first official address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, and his speech is the president’s first opportunity to lay out his agenda to the nation.
We already have some idea of what the president plans to discuss on Tuesday night, as the White House released plans to ask Congress for a $54 billion increase in military spending as well as substantial cuts to the budgets of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of State.
The topic of illegal immigration, which was a central focus of then-candidate Trump’s presidential campaign, is likely to come up during tonight’s speech.
Because of that, Democrats are attempting to hijack the spotlight by inviting immigrants from countries on Trump’s temporary travel ban and the children of illegal immigrants.
From CNN:
Rep. Nydia Velazquez, a Democrat from New York, announced Monday that she had invited Hameed Darweesh to the event. Darweesh is an immigrant from Iraq who was detained at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York in early January because of Trump’s executive order suspending the refugee program and temporarily restricting travel from seven Muslim-majority countries. He assisted US forces in Iraq and relocated to the US on a special immigrant visa with his family just as Trump was beginning his presidency.
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A statement from Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Monday said 10 of the caucus’ members, including Velazquez, invited people who had been or could be personally affected by Trump’s policies. The statement said that among them were two children of recently deported immigrants and a green card holder from Sudan, one of the countries covered by Trump’s travel restrictions.
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Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, a member of Democratic leadership, announced on Monday he would host Aaima Sayed during the address. Sayed is an “American-Muslim Dreamer” and medical student who was granted legal status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program instituted by former President Barack Obama, a statement from Durbin’s office said.
But President Trump isn’t going to let the Democrats steal the show – he has invited a powerful group of individuals as his guests to his address before Congress, and Democrats will not be pleased.
According to Time, President Trump has invited the families of three people who were murdered by illegal immigrants.
Trump invites victims of illegal immigrant crime as guests for speech to Congress: https://t.co/SoB0yDuA2e pic.twitter.com/UnpYVG45WJ
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) February 28, 2017
From Time:
Jessica Davis and Susan Oliver, two guests slated for attendance, are the widows of two California police officers who were killed in 2014 by an undocumented immigrant, the White House said. Jamiel Shaw, whose son was killed by an undocumented immigrant in 2008, will also join.
Since announcing his candidacy for president in 2015, Trump has pledged to crack down on illegal immigration, specifically deporting illegal immigrants who have committed violent crimes while in the United States. Just last week, the administration issued several memos on illegal immigration, which instructed the Department of Homeland Security to hire 5,000 new Border Patrol agents, end the controversial “catch and release” program, and eliminate funding for sanctuary cities across the country.
The difference between the president and Democrats on the issue of immigration could not be starker. While President Trump wants to honor those who have been the victim of illegal immigrant criminals, Democrats want to promote illegal immigration. The liberal media will no doubt ignore the president’s guests and instead cheer on the supposed “victims” of President Trump’s travel restrictions, and give the Democrats who invited these individuals an undeserved platform to attack the president.
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