California Belizean “Dreamer” Gets Invite to Trump’s State of the Union Address

U.S. President Donald Trump will give his first State of the Union address tonight in Washington. Marking the first year of his presidency, he will deliver the speech at the White House which will highlight issues related to the U.S. economy, national security and immigration, among others. And if you’ve been following the international news, you will know that one of the hot button issues is immigration. The Trump Administration has said that it would wind down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that protects some eight hundred thousand illegal immigrants taken to the U.S.A. as children. But tonight, some of those who have been fighting for the rights of DACA recipients are going to use their presence at the State of the Union to send a message to President Trump; among them is Belizean Denea Joseph.

Denea Joseph

Joseph left Belize at seven years old and was raised in L.A; she is the invited guest of California Senator Kamala Harris. Harris posted on her website, “Dreamers like Denea represent the best of who we are as a nation. Her commitment to the representation and empowerment of black immigrant communities is inspiring. We must continue to fight to give her and the hundreds of thousands of other young people like her who are living in fear, the security they need to live up to their full potential.”

Joseph is an alumnus of the University of California, Los Angeles and serves as the Communications Coordinator for Undocu-Black Network, an advocacy organization that serves black, undocumented immigrants. She says, “As a young girl born in Belize, a country of no more than three hundred and seventy thousand people, I could’ve never fathomed that I’d be invited as a guest to the State of the Union Address. While I wish it was under better circumstances, I’m grateful to my fellow activists, organizers, and congressional allies like Senator Kamala Harris who continue to champion immigrant rights as human rights.”