DHS Slams Controversial Immigration Guests At State Of The Union

The State of the Union on Tuesday night unfolds against the backdrop of a funding lapse at the Department of Homeland Security over federal immigration enforcement tactics–and some Democrats are skipping out on President Donald Trump’s address, while others are bringing guests tied to the immigration issue.

One example includes Rep. Seth Moulton’s (D-MA) guest, Marcelo Gomes da Silva. Moulton’s office said in a press release that Gomes da Silva was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for having an expired student visa he did not know about. Moulton said that “his story captures what’s broken in our immigration system right now,” whereas DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin has said, “Marcelo Gomes da Silva is still an illegal alien and subject to removal proceedings.”

Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) invited Caroline Dias Gonçalves as a guest, saying she was briefly arrested by ICE last year, even though she’s considered part of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). However, DHS stated that Gonçalves’ “visa expired over a decade ago. President Trump and Secretary Noem are committed to restoring integrity to the visa program and ensuring it is not abused to allow aliens a permanent one-way ticket to remain in the U.S.”

“Today, some Democrats in Congress are planning to bring illegal aliens as guests to the State of the Union. Once again, they are putting illegal aliens above the safety of American citizens,” Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a Tuesday statement to The Daily Wire.

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“Yesterday alone, our officers arrested pedophiles, rapists, and violent criminals from our communities. President Trump and Secretary Noem have made it abundantly clear: if you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will find you, we will arrest you, and you will NEVER return,” Bis added.

DHS also highlighted illegal immigrant arrests made on Monday, including Cuban national Jorge Luis Gómez-Gallardo, who had a prior conviction for “carnal knowledge of a child 13-14 years old without force” in Virginia.

Guyanese national Parsam Chettana was arrested in Schenectady, New York, and has been convicted of rape. Mexican national Agustine Hernandez-Almaraz was convicted of “criminal sexual assault”; Omar Gómez-Hinojosa of Mexico also had an assault conviction; and El Salvadoran national Isidro Arcenio Alvarado has a “naturalization fraud” conviction in North Carolina.

On Monday at the White House, Trump proclaimed it National Angel Family Day to “remember and honor the thousands of American lives stolen from us by criminal illegal aliens and the deadly drugs they bring across our borders.”

One of the Democrats voicing their opposition ahead of Tuesday’s remarks from the president is Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), who is facing federal felony charges for allegedly interfering with authorities during a clash outside an ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, last May. McIver’s “prebuttal” underscored her criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics.

“America can handle dissent. We should welcome it. The conversation makes us stronger. But Donald Trump doesn’t care about America; he cares only about himself, his money, his power. It is time to decide: Is democracy worth defending? Is it worth the risk? Is it worth a very real sacrifice?” she said.