San Diego ‘dreamers’ feel insulted by State of the Union speech

President Trump has put forth a “4 pillar” immigration policy proposal which promises a path to citizenship for 1.8 million ‘dreamers.’ So why were the ‘dreamers’ so negatively affected by the speech?

Did you see any ‘dreamer’ highlighted in the gallery as a bright star in America’s future? Did you get the fact that immigrants were portrayed, once again, as gang members, murderers, etc? Somehow the lower crime rate and lower drug use by immigrants went unmentioned. David Brooks has an Op-Ed piece noting this.

In the San Diego Tribune: “With moans, sighs and quietly tense moments, San Diego “dreamers” listened with growing frustration Tuesday night as President Donald Trump delivered a State of the Union address reiterating his recently proposed framework for immigration legislation.

Nine young unauthorized immigrants who are currently protected from deportation through an Obama-era program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, hoped that Trump’s speech might provide answers to a question that’s been on their minds since Sept. 5 when he ended the program — what would happen to them now.

They said they were disgusted with Trump’s rhetoric which continued to emphasize a narrative of immigrants as criminals.

“They have always painted us as criminals when we contribute so much,” said Luis Tinoco, a 35-year-old DACA recipient from Mexico who owns an auto mechanic shop. “We’re all here. We’re educated. We come from families with moral characters.”

Ali Torabi, a 27-year-old DACA recipient from Iran who hosted the watch party at his home in Torrey Highlands, was angry that Trump didn’t acknowledge the DACA recipients who were there as guests of many members of Congress. Karen Bahena, who works as a research coordinator at UC San Diego, attended with Rep. Scott Peters.”

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