Two South Florida Dreamers who went to Washington for the State of the Union were hoping to see signs of compromise.
MIAMI (CBSMiami) — Adrian Escarate and Nicolas Perez are two South Florida Dreamers who went to Washington for the State of the Union. They were hoping to see signs of compromise.
“I feel betrayed by the speech last night,” said Perez, “they’re using us to get a ransom of things they want. They want to build a wall.”
“I thought that he might be able to come out with a message of more compassion and inclusivity for Dreamers,” said Escarate after hearing the president’s plan.
“The first pillar of our framework,” President Trump said, “generously offers a path to citizenship for 1.8 million illegal immigrants.”
In exchange, the president wants billions of dollars for a border wall, and wants to end the visa lottery and family based immigration. That brought hisses from Democrats.
“Under the current broken system,” the president said, “a single immigrant can bring in virtually unlimited numbers of distant relatives.”
That’s when Democrats began hissing. The president continued, “under our plan, we focus on the immediate family.”
Escarate feels for Dreamers to stay, the president’s plan keeps others out, pitting immigrants against each other.
“It makes the conversation a lot harder to compromise and get to a bill that’s going to pass both the House and Senate,” he said.
Both men from South Florida who attended met with influential lawmakers.
Now, each is hoping everyone can work together for a fix.
“I was even able to talk to Speaker Paul Ryan who told me they were going to get it done,” Escarate said. “So actions speak louder than words. We’ll see what happens and hopefully it’s soon.”
