Trump’s Plea for Unity in State of the Union Rings Hollow

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Washington, DC – Today, following the State of the Union address by President Trump, UnidosUS (formerly NCLR) President and CEO Janet Murguía released the following statement:

President Trump’s call for unity in his first State of the Union is belied by everything he has said since he began his campaign for president and everything his administration has done in the last year.

President Trump has only spoken of Latinos and other communities of color to insult, demonize or make them targets of his draconian, bigoted policies. No president in the last 100 years has done more to divide Americans than President Trump.

We would also note what President Trump failed to mention in his remarks:

  • A real solution for DREAMers, who are only in crisis because of Trump’s cruel and needless ending of DACA—a solution that should not involve a mass deportation force or eviscerating our legal immigration system in return.
  • The continuing crisis in Puerto Rico due to his administration’s woeful response to Hurricane Maria, reinforced today by FEMA’s heartless decision to halt emergency supplies to the island.
  • The continued undermining of the Affordable Care Act despite the complete inability of his administration or the Republican congressional leadership to come up with a viable health care alternative.

And finally, we would note what he did mention:

  • Again, painted undocumented immigrants as violent criminals who pose a threat to our country, a falsehood that has been the rationale for a draconian immigration policy that separates families and hurts American families.
  • A massive tax cut for corporations and the wealthiest of Americans that will be paid for by working and middle-class families and our country’s children.
  • A booming stock market that also helps corporations and the wealthiest of Americans but not the vast majority of Americans.
  • A policy to end “chain migration” which is a bigoted and offensive term that refers to the process by which U.S. citizens can reunite with their parents and adult children. A process which—contrary to the falsehoods perpetrated by anti-immigrant extremists like top Trump advisor Stephen Miller—can take years or decades

Tonight’s speech was a one-time show. Tomorrow we return to the regularly scheduled programming of bigotry, divisiveness and denigration of American values that has been the hallmark of the Trump administration thus far.