Last night Donald Trump Laid Out His Next Steps to Divide America, But We Won’t Let Him Use Immigration to Divide Us.
Last night in Phoenix, President Trump made clear that he intends to keep using his presidency as a vehicle to divide America and drive division and hate. His presidency is defined by attempts to rip apart communities and pit Americans against each other. Last night, he once again directed his wrath at Hispanics and immigrants.
This is unacceptable — and I will stand up to President Trump on this every day in Congress.
President Trump gave every signal last night that he will pardon Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who violated the rights of all Hispanics and harassed Hispanic inmates for not speaking English. In addition, President Trump threatened to shut down the government unless the Congress his party controls pays for the border wall — yes, that same border wall that he said Mexico would pay for.
While Donald Trump and the Republican Party control every part of our government, they are pushing a legislative agenda antithetical to the principles of our country, defined on division and stoking fears, and doing nothing to improve the lives of the people in this country.
And that is exactly why I entered the race for Congress earlier this month. Our country is getting torn apart by Donald Trump and the Republicans, while absolutely nothing is getting done to create new opportunities for people.
My focus in Congress will be standing up to Donald Trump and creating opportunities across our community.
In Miami, diversity is our differentiator. We’re a community of immigrants. Immigration is our greatest strength — it drives our economic growth, creates our most vibrant businesses, fosters our rich cultural life, builds resilient communities, and inspires creativity. When I worked as a journalist, I wrote stories celebrating these parts of our community. And as program director at the Knight Foundation, I helped foster a movement sparking greater entrepreneurship and innovation built on our unique diversity.
Miami is a city built by immigrants. They are our mayors and our artists, and are our neighbors who we will always embrace. Immigrants are also my family. My wife Danet is a first generation American — and her sisters and mother, who live in Miami, were born in Cuba. They arrived here through the Freedom Tower in downtown Miami. They found a country that gave them the chance to succeed, and they did.
We must always hold fast to our tradition in America of welcoming immigrants with open arms. Donald Trump’s hateful and divisive rhetoric strikes at the core of one of our bedrock American values. Not only that, curtailing immigration will actually undermine economic growth not help it.
We need leaders in Congress willing to fight President Trump’s attempts to use immigration as a way to divide us — and instead look to create opportunities for all Americans now. That is the congressman I aspire to be.
