Trump’s Dystopian Vision for the Future Is Based on Fear, Not Facts

WASHINGTON — In his first State of the Union address, President Trump laid out a blueprint for the future of the country. A cornerstone of this vision includes policies designed to turn back the clock on our nation’s immigration system by curbing legal immigration by as much as 50 percent. This proposal comes after several weeks of the White House’s failure to achieve a legislative fix to allow DACA recipients to continue to live and work in the United States.

Below is a statement from Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center:

“President Trump did his best to distract from the plain and simple fact that his administration failed to address the needs of the many working Americans who voted for him. The president, who pledged to keep jobs in the United States and increase wages for those struggling to make ends meet, instead delivered a tax cut to the billionaire class. One constant, however, has been his dogged commitment to attempt to divide our communities by scapegoating immigrants.

“The American people weren’t fooled by Trump’s discriminatory Muslim ban or by his xenophobic attempt to exploit the DACA crisis to enact a white nationalist wish list. We certainly won’t be fooled by any attempt to pit workers, whether immigrant or native born, against each other.

“A president should be capable of moving beyond Twitter attacks and dog whistle politics to focus instead on issues that will help all our communities. Sadly, President Trump seemed unable to accomplish this feat tonight.”

###