Many Democratic Party members of the Congress have announced that they intend to bring immigrants along with them as their guests to United States President Donald Trump's Congressional speech on Tuesday (February 28).
Trump is scheduled to give his first joint Congressional address in a State of the Union-style speech. His Congress address comes after his xenophobic campaign trail and the executive order of barring refugees and people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US. The Trump Administration has also made moves to step up deportations and the president has signed an executive order to begin building the controversial wall along his country's borders with Mexico to keep illegal immigrants at bay.
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Members of the Congress, including the president, often invite certain guests to these speeches to make a political statement or to recognise their constituents. Hence, the presence of immigrants and Muslim-Amer, feel observers.
A Democrat from New York, Rep. Nydia Velazquez, announced on Monday (Feb 27) that she had invited Hameed Darweesh to Tuesday's event. Darweesh is an immigrant from Iraq who was detained at the John F Kennedy International Airport in New York in early January after Trump signed the executive order suspending the refugee programme and enacting a travel ban. Darweesh had helped the US forces in Iraq and had relocated to the US on a special immigrant visa.
Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Monday released a statement saying that 10 of the caucus' members, including Velazquez, had invited people who had been personally affected by Trump's controversial ban and his policies. Grisham's statement said that among the invitees are two children of recently deported immigrants and a green-card holder from Sudan — one of the countries covered by Trump's travel restrictions.
An Illinois Democrat and member of the caucus, Rep. Luis Gutiérrez, said that he had invited an immigration attorney as his guest who is also the daughter of Palestinian refugees. He also said that he would not praise any of Trump's comments during the speech.
"This year, I do not plan to applaud this president or leap to my feet to give him a standing ovation — even in the unlikely event he says something I agree with," Gutiérrez wrote.
