Local DREAMer criticizes Donald Trump’s first weeks in office

Taking the national stage for the second time in less than a year, local DREAMer Astrid Silva said Tuesday that President Donald Trump had used his first weeks in office to take the country back to some of the darkest times in its history.

He has taken actions, she said, “that focus specifically on hurting immigrants and refugees. He is spending resources on targeting working immigrant families for deportation. He wants to spend billions of dollars to build an unnecessary border wall, and he’s looking for ways to deny entry to our Muslim brothers and sisters.”

Silva, an undocumented immigrant who came to the United States from Mexico at age 4, was tapped to give the Democratic Party’s Spanish-language response to Trump’s first address to a joint session of Congress.

“Like many of you,” she said from the Capitol on Tuesday, “this is the only home I know.”

“I’m here representing Democrats, Latinos and the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are an integral part of this country and who embody the values and the promise of America.”

Instead of mass deportations, Silva called on Trump to focus on creating jobs and growing the economy.

Silva, who has long advocated on behalf of immigrants in Nevada, attended the speech as a guest of U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.

“Thousands just like Astrid who were brought to this country as children have inspired policies to fix it,” Cortez Masto said. “I will continue to fight alongside Astrid to protect hardworking families from nefarious attacks that threaten to separate them and to pass comprehensive immigration reform once and for all.”

In her response to Trump’s speech, Silva also touched on the importance of improving, not scrapping, the Affordable Care Act and continuing to fund Planned Parenthood. She questioned the selection of Betsy DeVos as education secretary and urged Supreme Court Nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch to be an “independent judge who won’t owe himself to this administration.”

Silva has benefited from former President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which provides undocumented students and military personnel with work permits and deferred deportation.

Silva co-founded DREAM Big Vegas, an organization that raises awareness about the importance of educating undocumented youth. She is a former organizing director for PLAN Action, the political arm of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, and a 2016 graduate of Nevada State College, where she received its Humanitarian Award.

In 2016, Silva spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, telling delegates about her family’s journey to the United States, how they “risked everything for the American dream,” and how a Trump administration would rip immigrant families apart.

Tuesday night Silva said echoed that sentiment, saying Trump’s first address to Congress was divisive, aimed at causing fear in communities across the country, and served as a reminder that the vision and plans he and Republicans have for the United States “go completely against our values as Democrats, as Americans, and as human beings.”

Contact Lucy Hood at lhood@reviewjournal.com or 702 387-2904. Follow @lucyahood on Twitter.