Trump’s SOTU Though an Immigration Policy Lens

On Tuesday night, President Trump delivered a lengthy State of the Union (SOTU) address on Capitol Hill, during which immigration policy figured prominently. In this episode of Parsing Immigration Policy, guest host Jessica Vaughan, the Center's Director of Policy Studies, and guest Art Arthur, the Center's Resident Fellow in Law and Policy, break down issues that the President chose to highlight.

Some of the discussed portions of SOTU address:

• The most political moment of the President's speech came when the President invited congressional members to stand if they agreed that, "The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.”
• President Trump underscored the success of his border policy, fulfilling a major campaign promise.
• The speech also attempted to explain the President's current immigration enforcement strategy by highlighting various crimes committed my criminal aliens, including the death of Lizbeth Medina.
• President Trump promoted four pieces of legislation: “Delilah's Law”, which would prohibit states from issuing commercial driver’s licenses to those here illegally; the stalled DHS funding bill; an act to end federal funding for sanctuary jurisdictions; and the SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections.
• There were two noteworthy omissions from the speech: legal immigration and temporary work visas.

Host

Jessica Vaughan is the Director of Policy Studies at the Center for Immigration Studies

Guest

Art Arthur is the Resident Fellow in Law and Policy at the Center for Immigration Studies

Related

It Is Impossible to Fully Vet Immigrants When a Culture of Corruption Exists

New January Data Still Shows Most Job Growth Going to Immigrants; 88% since 2020, 72% in the last year

Why Cutting Chain Migration Must Be Part of an Immigration Deal

Intro Montage

Voices in the opening montage:

• Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.
• Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.
• President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.
• Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.
• Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.
• Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.
• Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.
• Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.
• Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.
• Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.
• Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".