Trump defends immigration crackdown at State of Union as approval ratings plummet
WASHINGTON— During his State of the Union address, President Trump highlighted victims of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants to defend his increasingly unpopular immigration crackdown.
But as Democrats pointed out, the president’s lengthy speech made no reference to U.S. citizens, including Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed by immigration agents in Minneapolis.
Recent polls show public support for Trump’s immigration policies has fallen to record lows since his return to the White House. a surveyThe poll, released Feb. 17 by Reuters and market research firm Ipsos, showed that only 38% of respondents thought Trump was doing a good job on immigration.
Another survey published last month Fox NewsIt showed that 59% of voters say U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is “too aggressive.”
“As President Trump brags about immigration sanctions at tonight’s State of the Union event, I can only think of Renee Nicole Good, Alex Pretti, and the three dozen others who have died in ICE custody since Trump took office,” said Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord). wrote to x.
In the first few minutes of his speech Tuesday night, Trump highlighted “by far the strongest and most secure border in American history.” He also struck a softer tone — at least temporarily — adding: “We will always allow people to enter legally who will love our country and work hard to protect our country.”
In effect, the administration restricted legal immigration. Humanitarian aid to hundreds of thousands of people was canceled and all asylum applications with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services were suspended indefinitely.
Guests invited to Trump’s speech by various lawmakers offered conflicting visions of the administration’s mass deportation efforts.
Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa) said he would bring the father and brother of Sarah Root, who was killed in 2016 after a drunk driver who was in the United States illegally crashed into her vehicle. On Monday, Trump held an event for “angel families” who had a relative killed by an undocumented immigrant. signed a statement to honor victims of such crimes.
Democrats, meanwhile, invited immigrants, family members of those detained or deported, and U.S. citizens violently detained by immigration officials.
For example, Rep. Mike Levin (D-San Juan Capistrano) said he would bring the daughter of a Laguna Niguel couple. was deported to Colombia last year after they were arrested during a routine check-in with ICE. And Rep. Jesus Garcia (D-Ill.) Marimar invited MartinezA Chicago woman was shot five times by Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum.
in xThe Department of Homeland Security lashed out at Democrats with immigrant guests, saying lawmakers were “once again prioritizing illegal aliens over the safety of American citizens.”
On Tuesday morning, Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) held a press conference on the “immigration situation,” with Christian pastors in attendance, where she touted the Dignity Act, which would provide permanent legal status to immigrants who meet certain criteria.
“There are two types of leaders throughout Scripture: those who persecute communities of faith and those who protect them,” he said.
California Senator Adam Schiff was among Democrats who boycotted Trump’s speech, citing immigration enforcement as a reason for his absence.
“I have never missed the State of the Union in the 25 years I have been in Congress, but we have never had a president who violates the Constitution and the law in such a way that seems to be impeachable every day,” Schiff said. Meidas told Touch Outside the Capitol. “We have never encountered masked, armed, poorly trained agents victimizing our cities and demanding to see people’s documents.”
Trump repeated debunked claims about immigration, such as the claim that President Biden’s immigration policies allowed millions of people to flow into the United States from prisons and mental hospitals.
Trump also highlighted a figure he frequently invokes: Democrats let in “11,888 murderers.” That number, an inaccurate description of federal data, has for decades (including the first Trump administration) generally referred to immigrants convicted of murder after arriving in the United States. These immigrants are listed on ICE “undetained file” typically because they are currently serving prison sentences.
Returning to Minnesota, Trump said Somalis had defrauded American taxpayers out of $19 billion and referred to them disparagingly as “Somali pirates.”
Trump went beyond Somalis to disparage many immigrants, saying, “There are great places in the world where bribery, corruption, and lawlessness are the norm, not the exception.”
“The importation of these cultures through unrestricted immigration and open borders brings these problems to the United States, and the American people are the ones paying the price,” he said.
Trump also highlighted the case of 6-year-old Dalilah Coleman of Bakersfield, who suffered a traumatic brain injury following a car crash in California in 2024.
He called on Congress to pass the Dalilah Act, which would ban states from issuing commercial driver’s licenses to immigrants without legal status. He said, without citing any evidence, that “most illegal aliens do not speak English and cannot read even the most basic road signs.”
A year after Dalilah’s accident, her family met with Partap Singh, the detained Indian immigrant responsible for the accident, at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield. His father, Marcus Coleman, told Fox26 News that the focus should not be on Singh’s legal status because similar accidents occur every day.
Also present Tuesday night were the parents of Sarah Beckstrom, a West Virginia National Guard member who was shot and killed by an Afghan immigrant in Washington, D.C., and the parents of Andrew Wolfe, who was also shot and survived.
Trump awarded Wolfe and Beckstrom the Purple Heart. He called Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the man accused in the attack, a “terrorist monster”. Lakanwal legally entered the United States from Afghanistan in 2021 through the Biden administration’s program, and his asylum application was approved by the Trump administration last April.
Turning his attention to the fall midterm elections, Trump warned his supporters that Democrats would reopen borders to “some of the worst criminals anywhere in the world” if they were allowed back into power.
Trump then invited lawmakers to stand if they agreed with him that “the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.”
Republicans rose to their feet, delivering one of the longest applauses of the night. Democrats remained seated.
Trump told Democrats they should be ashamed for not standing up.
“You killed Americans!” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) shouted from the audience. “You should be ashamed.”
