A President Should Work to Unite the Country Not Divide It

Press Release

Representative Ruben J. Kihuen delivered remarks this morning alongside Joe Crowley (D-NY), Chairman of the Democratic Caucus and fellow members of the House Democratic Caucus in response to continued executive orders issued by President Donald Trump targeting immigrants and refugees.

"I am the proud son of a housekeeper and former farm worker. My family came to the United States when I was 8 years old in pursuit of the American Dream. I was once undocumented in this country. My family came here with a visa. We overstayed our visa, like many other immigrant families that come into this country. Eventually--thanks to a Republican president, Ronald Reagan--I was able to become a citizen. Today, I am a sitting member of Congress. It goes to show you that this country is great."

"My family is the embodiment of the American Dream. We are the perfect example of what can happen when you give a family an opportunity to succeed here in America. Today we are here to speak up and speak out. We are not going to roll over. There is some room for compromise. If President Trump wants to talk about job creation, about coming up with a solution to immigration reform, about the Affordable Care Act, I would be more than happy to sit down with him. But, there are also issues where I won't compromise.

"We don't compromise on our values and beliefs. When you are talking about deporting 11 million people. When you are talking about building a wall that will cost up to 20 billion dollars--and by the way those dollars can put people back to work. We can invest it in our infrastructure and create jobs. A lot of people in the [Nevada's] fourth congressional district today are still without jobs. These DACA students, these refugees, these immigrants, they deserve an opportunity to succeed here in America. What we are seeing now is illegal, unconstitutional and un-American actions by the president. These are some of the most un-American actions I have ever seen by an American President. We are here to say we are not going to take this, we are going to push back and defend the rights of our constituents of all backgrounds."

"I've been on the ground the last two years listening to people all throughout Nevada. If you look at my district it includes urban and rural Nevada, Republicans and Democrats. One thing is for sure people want to see solutions to the problems we are facing in this country. They are hoping that both Republican and Democrats come together and put them back to work and make sure that those folks who now have health care keep their health insurance.

"To see this type of rhetoric and actions by President Trump and with Republicans not having the courage to stand up to him and say this is immoral, this is illegal, this is unconstitutional, it's very disappointing. That's part of the reason Congress has an eight percent approval rating. That's why people are frustrated with this system, that is why people are frustrated with their elected officials. We have to put our parties aside and come together, but it all begins with leadership.

"The responsibility of a president is to unite the country not divide the country. What we are seeing right now is that President Trump is dividing the country. That's why you are seeing protests in every single airport. We had almost 500 people at the Las Vegas airport. People want solutions to the problems that they are facing today. I'd be more than happy to sit down with Republicans and the President if they were to have reasonable solutions to the problems we're facing today. But all, we're seeing right now is hateful anti-immigrant, anti-refugee, anti-women, anti-gay and lesbian, anti-worker, anti-American pieces of legislation and that's very disappointing."

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