In Spanish-Language Response, Activist Says Trump Is Inspiring Discrimination ("Racial profiling")

President Trump took a hard-line stance on illegal immigration during his first address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday, restating his promise to build a wall along the Southern border and speaking of the government's ongoing deportation efforts, saying that "as we speak, we are removing gang members, drug dealers, and criminals who threaten our communities."

Notably absent from the president's remarks was any indication that he would support a path to legalization for the millions of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, despite reports that he had signaled an openness to a legalization plan during a meeting with reporters earlier Tuesday.

Instead, during his address, the president sought to cast illegal immigration as a threat to public safety. He highlighted the stories of two California police officers and a teenager said to have been killed by immigrants living in the U.S. illegally as the victims' relatives — invited by the president — looked on from the audience. To a mix of cheers and jeers, Trump spoke of a new government office to help such families.

But immigrants also played a major role in the Democratic response to the president's speech. Astrid Silva, a 28-year-old immigration activist from Nevada, delivered the Democrats' Spanish-language response, seeking to cast the president's policies and comments about immigrants in the U.S. illegally as divisive and destructive to millions of otherwise law-abiding families.

She spoke of the case of Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, an Arizona mother thought to be among the first immigrants deported as a result of Trump's executive order that widely expanded the category of immigrants whom the government considers deportation priorities.

"Today Guadalupe is far from her children who are U.S. citizens and who are an example of the great impact that Trump's actions have over the American people in general, not just on the undocumented community," Silva said in the remarks that aired on several Spanish-language networks, including Univision and Telemundo.

"In this country, there is no space for discrimination, racial profiling or persecution," Silva said. "But sadly, this is what the Trump administration has brought forth for Latinos and immigrants."

Their choice of an immigrant to give an official response to the president's address signaled one way that Democrats are trying to sharply contrast their party with Trump's recent orders on immigration and refugees, which many have denounced as discriminatory.

The choice of Silva suggests that she continues to be seen as a rising star within the party. Silva co-founded the advocacy group DREAM Big Vegas, which works on behalf of young people who, like her, were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

In an interview with NPR, Silva said her remarks Tuesday night were targeted less at these young immigrants, many of whom are currently protected under an Obama-era program, and instead at their parents. Many of them fear imminent deportation after Trump's recent executive orders.

"I'm talking to my mom and dad," Silva said. "I'm talking to the people that have been here 20, 30 years and have been unable to find a pathway to citizenship. Those are the people at home right now and living in fear. Those are the people afraid to go to the grocery store."

Silva said her speech had been planned as a direct rebuttal to the way she expected the president to characterize immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally — as dangerous.

"I understand the difficulty that the families are facing," she said of the guests whose relatives were killed, but she said she believed they were invited to the speech "to continue that constant rhetoric that undocumented immigrants are criminals."

Silva first came to national prominence when, in 2014, President Obama spoke about her as he announced an ultimately failed program to protect the parents of U.S.-citizen children. Last summer, she took the stage at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia and told the story of her family's coming to the U.S. illegally when she was 4.

Silva's rise within the Democratic Party started with a letter she wrote to her senator, then-Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, when Silva was 21. Reid wrote back, and the two continued corresponding.

Silva said it was New York Sen. Chuck Schumer's office that extended the invitation to deliver Tuesday's Spanish-language response. She said she was honored by the chance to represent the hundreds of thousands of so-called DREAMers who have fought for immigrant protections, including the Obama program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which currently shields them from deportation. Last week, memos outlining how the Trump administration will implement new immigration actions explicitly exempted DACA.

"It's a huge responsibility," she said of Tuesday's response. "Right now is a time when a lot of people are saying to go back into the shadows. It's very difficult to go back to the way we were living when we've had something that we've fought for so hard, so when the opportunity presented itself, I took it."

So as always, the opposition party offered a rebuttal to the president's speech last night. But there were two speeches from the Democratic Party. First, former Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear - he spoke from a Lexington diner wearing shirtsleeves and khakis. The second speech was a departure from past rebuttals, both in language and the person who delivered it. Here's NPR's Adrian Florido.

ADRIAN FLORIDO, BYLINE: Even though she can't vote, 28-year-old Astrid Silva is a rising star in the Democratic Party. Her parents brought her to the U.S. illegally from Mexico when she was 4. And she was the Democrats' choice to deliver the Spanish-language response to Trump's speech last night.

ASTRID SILVA: (Through interpreter) I'm here representing Democrats, Latinos and the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are an integral part of this country and who embody the values and promise of America, the same ones that Trump is threatening with his mass deportation plan.

FLORIDO: Silva's address aired on Spanish-language networks, including Univision and Telemundo. Though she touched on several policy issues, immigration was front and center, specifically the president's recent executive order that directs immigration agents to cast a much wider net in their deportation efforts.

SILVA: (Through interpreter) Instead of mass deportations, President Trump should focus on creating jobs and growing our economy. He should recognize immigrants' great contributions to our country.

FLORIDO: Silva is currently shielded from deportation under President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. President Trump has said he has a soft spot for the young immigrants who benefit from that program, but he hasn't said if he'll keep it. Silva spoke with NPR after filming her address.

SILVA: You know, I wanted to make sure that not only my voice but our families' voices got through on this and to tell them that whatever their fears may be, that we are going to fight to make sure that people understand that they have a backing.

FLORIDO: Silva co-founded an immigrant advocacy group in Las Vegas, her home, and last summer spoke at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia. She said she jumped at the chance to deliver the Spanish response to Trump's speech when the Democrats offered it.

SILVA: Right now is the time when, you know, there's a lot of fear about coming back out. And people are saying go back into the shadows. And for me, it's very difficult to go back to the way we were living. So when the opportunity presented itself, I took it.

FLORIDO: This is the first time an immigrant without legal status has ever delivered a party response to a presidential address. And while Silva's speech directly challenged Trump's immigration policies, Democrats knew that her very presence would also do that.

(SOUNDBITE OF TOM MISCH'S "THE JOURNEY") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

It wouldn’t be profiling if the officers had probable cause to think they were illegal aliens.

I propose that all ICE officers be equipped with body cams and those body cams run a facial recognition check against DMV and criminal databases automatically for every face captured. If they do not appear in the first database or they do appear in the second database, that would constitute probable cause to check the person’s ID and immigration status more carefully, wouldn’t it ?

3 posted on 03/02/2017 2:24:01 AM PST by ImNotLying (The Constitution is an instrument for the people to restrain the government...Patrick Henry)

Astrid Silva has been in the US for 24 years (since she was 4). Didn’t she go to school? How can she not speak English. Why does she need an interpreter?

The Democrats might have chosen an immigrant because they see Trump action on the southern border and on non-Muslim immigrants as the most unpopular part of the Trump agenda.

Trump on EPA, Education Choice, and on Muslims is far more popular than Trump on the southern border.

Odumbo didn’t need to use the Mexican’s to promote division in this country, he had a built in black population at his disposal and used them to the fullest.

It looks like the interpreter is being used to translate Ms. Silva’s remarks into Spanish.

What many anti-illegal voices don’t seem to understand and don’t want to hear is that vast numbers of Evangelical Christians and Conservative Catholics and libertarians and small business owners and others who are a part of the Trump coalition do not see Hispanic illegal immigration as a big threat. There are only minor, relatively insignificant issues that need attention.

We work beside illegals. We live beside illegals. We worship beside illegals. They are our friends, sometimes casual friends, sometimes close friends and family members. As Reagan said: I am a Contra. Contras are illegals also.

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