President Donald Trump is delivering his first State of the Union speech on Tuesday – but many Democrats in the House and Senate have found a pointed way to register their opposition.
U.S. Congressman David Price, a Democrat from Chapel Hill, has announced he’s bringing a local DACA recipient as his guest. Price is not alone: many Democratic House and Senate members will be doing the same thing. (Several others have announced they’ll be skipping the speech altogether.)
Rep. Price’s guest will be America Jimenez, a high school teacher in Raleigh. Jimenez was brought to the US at the age of two and she’s been living in America ever since. Former President Obama instituted the DACA program in 2012, allowing Jimenez to obtain her teaching certification after finishing grad school.
“DACA” is short for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals – an executive order signed in 2012 protecting undocumented residents from deportation if they’d been brought to the US before the age of 16. There are now about 740,000 DACA recipients (commonly known as “Dreamers”) nationwide, but the program is in jeopardy: last fall, President Trump rescinded the program effective this March, and Congress is currently scrambling to pass a bill to enshrine the program in law and protect the “Dreamers.”
Said Rep. Price in a statement:
“I’m honored to be joined by America at this year’s State of the Union address. Her passion for giving back to the community where she grew up is a testament to the story of many Dreamers in our community and our country. Despite the persistent uncertainty and fear created by her immigration status, America persevered to graduate high school, college, and graduate school. Then, because of the DACA program, she was able to became a certified ESL teacher, filling a crucial need in our state and serving an often overlooked student population. Her success is one of many inspiring stories of Dreamers who came to America as children and have made incalculable contributions to the only nation they have ever known.”
The State of the Union address is slated to begin Tuesday at 9 pm.
Related Stories
‹
![]()
Chapel Hill Mayor Praises Local Efforts and Calls for National Efforts Regarding DACAThe fate of many DACA recipients, undocumented individuals who were brought to the US illegally as children, remains unclear since the Trump administration announced plans to end the Obama-era program earlier this year. Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger says she applauds North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and the 10 other governors who last week signed […]
![]()
El Centro Hispano and Town of Carrboro Team Up to Assist DACA RecipientsThe Town of Carrboro, El Centro Hispano and community organizers joined to help DACA recipients through the renewal process this past month. Through information sessions and clinics, DACA recipients were guided through the process and many received funding to sponsor the $495 process. “Part of what we were trying to work on when the decision […]
![]()
Chapel Hill Mayor Calls Trump’s Decision to Rescind DACA ‘Really Disheartening’The United States Attorney General made the announcement last week that the Trump Administration plans to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The program created by former President Barack Obama gives undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children permits to remain in the country legally to work or attend school. […]

Chapel Hill And Carrboro Hold 'No Kings' Protest, Joining Communities NationwideOn Saturday, June 14, hundreds of Chapel Hill and Carrboro residents held their very own “No Kings” protest against the Trump administration.

On the Porch: Dr. Jim Crawford - Presidential CorruptionThis Week:
Born into a blue collar and agricultural clan in rural Pennsylvania, Dr. Jim Crawford was the first in his family to graduate from college. Earning his PhD from the University of North Carolina, he taught US and World History at several universities in the piedmont North Carolina for several decades. He served as chairman of the Chatham County board of commissioners, and currently serves as trustee for Central Carolina Community College. He is a firm believer in American democracy and trusts that the constitution will hold firm now as it has in past crises despite the broken, distempered electorate.

Orange, Durham And Chatham Counties Labeled 'Sanctuary Jurisdictions' By Homeland SecurityUPDATE: On Friday afternoon, Congresswoman Valerie Foushee (NC-04) responded to the Department of Homeland Security’s list of “sanctuary jurisdictions,” which includes Orange, Durham and Chatham Counties, each of which fall under her district. “This outrageous list is nothing more than a politically motivated stunt designed to intimidate and punish local governments that refuse to be […]

Trump’s List Of ‘Sanctuary Jurisdictions’ Includes Some That Support His Immigration PoliciesOfficials in communities from rural to urban and red to blue blasted the Trump administration’s list of “sanctuary jurisdictions."

Trump's Approval Is Declining. Want to Change Voters' Minds? Local Experts Say Your Tone Matters.Donald Trump's approval rating is declining, giving progressives an opportunity to move the dial - but experts say the right approach is key.

Did the Debate Hurt Joe Biden? Local Pollster Says Not As Much As You May ThinkThink last week's debate hurt Joe Biden? Polls suggest the Trump-Biden race is exactly where it was before - and there's a clear reason.

Half a Million Immigrants Could Eventually Get US Citizenship Under a New Plan From BidenWritten by SEUNG MIN KIM President Joe Biden is taking an expansive election year step to offer relief to potentially hundreds of thousands of immigrants without legal status in the U.S., aiming to balance his own aggressive crackdown on the southern border earlier this month that enraged advocates and many Democratic lawmakers. The White House announced Tuesday that […]
›