CHC Chair Response to Trump's State of the Union

Washington, D.C. – The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) Chair Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM-01) issued the following statement in response to President Trump's State of the Union Address:

 

"President Trump used his State of the Union Address to disparage immigrant communities, distort policy, undermine bipartisan efforts to protect Dreamers, and ignore the issues important to Hispanic communities across this nation.

 

"Since the start of his Presidency, Trump has disregarded the immense contributions of immigrant families and Dreamers. Instead he has adopted rhetoric and policies that call into question their basic dignity and place in America. For too many, the feeling of terror and fear of deportation and family separation is all too real.

 

"Despite overwhelming support from Americans to protect Dreamers and to make sensible reforms to our immigration system, this Republican-controlled Congress's gridlock and hyperpartisanship has kept us from making meaningful progress toward these goals.

 

"Rather than using tonight as an opportunity to lead Congress toward a bipartisan solution that protects Dreamers, the President chose to promote his partisan immigration plan that uses them to force drastic cuts to legal immigration, enact draconian policies that sow unrest and terror, and incite dangerous anti-immigrant fervor. In addition, his White House plan is an assault on family-based immigration, which is deeply rooted in our values and creates economic gains for our nation. Americans should not to have to make the false choice between deporting Dreamers and restrictive immigration policies that separate families and hurt our economy.

 

"The President used his first year in office to help the powerful and privileged, rather than millions of our fellow citizens reeling from a disaster in Puerto Rico or hundreds of thousands of others whose health care coverage he tried to strip away. He enacted costly and unpopular tax cuts for corporations and millionaires on the backs of struggling and hard-working families. And his Republican super-majority cannot even meet it most basic responsibility of properly funding our government. Ultimately, the President's zero-sum policies and toxic politics exacerbate the divisions in Congress and paralyze any meaningful bipartisan legislating. His haphazard leadership is hurting our nation, not strengthening it.

 

"In order for the state of our union to truly be strong, the President must rise to the challenge of being a leader for all Americans, not just some."

 

###