Immigration Peripheral to President’s State of the Union Address
President Barack Obama gave his last State of the Union Address last night. Here is the transcript. The White House has this webpage on the address..
Immigration was not a focus of the President’s address. He, however, did briefly refer to the need for Congress to enact immigration reform and mentioned that we should resist the demonization of groups of people, such as Muslims. Although the President did not mention them in his speech, a Syrian refugee and former undocumented immigrant who served in the military were invited guests of the White House
Not surprisingly, the President’s State of the Union did not mention the controversy over the much-publicized immigration raids. 146 members of Congress protested the raids in a letter to the President released yesterday.
Nikki Haley, the Republican Governor of South Carolina (and the daughter of immigrants from India), offered the Republican response to the President’s speech. She talked a bit more about immigration than the President. Governor Haley was softer on immigration than Donald Trump on immigration. She emphasized that immigrants who follow the law “should [not] ever feel unwelcome in this country.” Governor Haley further said that the United States should continue admitting “properly vetted legal immigrants, regardless of their race or religion.” At the same time, she emphasized that “That does not mean we just flat out open our borders.” Donald Trump responded to Governor Haley’s speech, saying that she “was very weak on illegal immigration.”
KJ