On Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump revealed his strategy to on the issue that has caused a profound divide: immigration. Last night, Trump unveiled his “four pillars” of immigration reform: a path to citizenship for 1.8 million “Dreamers” and those undocumented immigrants who would otherwise qualify for the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program; a $25 billion trust for a wall along the Mexican border; ending the visa lottery in favor of a merit-based immigration system; and limiting family reunification to sponsorships for spouses and minor children only. The announcement caused an uproar on both sides of the aisle. Here in Chicago two prominent figures vocalized their concerns over Trump’s immigration plan.

Rather than bring our nation together behind sensible, compassionate solutions to our broken immigration system, the President doubled down on his attacks on immigrants, smearing all newcomers, misrepresenting the family-based system at the heart of our immigration laws, attacking the diversity program that offers hope to thousands of aspiring Americans, and holding hostage the 700,000 younger immigrants who face losing their DACA protection due to his actions.  We can do much better as a country.  It’s time for Congress and the White House to unite behind bipartisan solutions, including a clean DREAM Act and a permanent solution for the hundreds of ​thousands of immigrants who are losing their Temporary Protected Status, and not the wasteful, unpopular border wall or the senseless gutting of family and diversity visas.  ICIRR and our leaders and allies will keep pushing our members of Congress until we finally win the protections and policies that our families and communities need and deserve. –Statement from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights

Even though I disagreed with almost everything he said, for Trump, the speech was clear and well-delivered.  Whoever translated it for him from Russian did a good job. I am still hopeful, but I don’t see this Congress and this President coming to an agreement that prevents the deportation of the Dreamers.  The White House agenda is to gut legal immigration in exchange for allowing some of the Dreamers to live here.  For those of us who support legal immigration, and that’s most Democrats and many Republicans, it won’t fly.  And the Dreamers themselves have said they do not want legal status if it comes at the expense of others who will suffer more as part of the bargain.  The speech did nothing to bring the pro- and anti-immigrant sides closer together. I was hoping for some sort of apology on Puerto Rico, but I heard nothing.  Puerto Rico is a metaphor for how this President sees all Latinos and people of color: he does not see us as his equals and he does not see us as fellow human beings.  If you look at how the President has treated Puerto Rico, you have to conclude that he just doesn’t care and probably thinks of Puerto Rico as just another shithole country.  –Statement from Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez