Democrats highlight ICE fallout with State of the Union guests
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Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) speaks alongside other Democrats and a photograph of Renee Good outside the Capitol on Jan. 14. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
A growing list of Democrats have announced special guests they've invited to President Trump's State of the Union — many of them people directly impacted by the administration's immigration policies.
The big picture: Amid a Department of Homeland Security shutdown and standoff between the GOP and Democrats over Trump's ICE enforcement, Democrats are aiming to draw attention away from the president's remarks in a more pointed way.
- Top Democrats have instructed members not to interrupt Trump's State of the Union speech, after some progressives and lawmakers staged demonstrations during his speech last year.
- Some opponents of the president's policies are opting to boycott the speech altogether, participating instead in counter-programming events, while others have yet to decide whether they'll attend.
State of play: Immigration enforcement is front and center in many Democrats' guest selection.
- Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is bringing four guests from Minnesota whose stories, she says, reflect how Operation Metro Surge has "devastated Minnesotans' safety and economic security."
- Among them is Mary Granlund, chair of the Columbia Heights School Board, where 5-year-old Liam Ramos — who was detained by ICE — attends school.
Rep. Jesus "Chuy" García (D-Ill.) will attend with Marimar Martinez, a U.S. citizen who was shot five times by a Customs and Border Protection agent after allegedly striking the officer's vehicle with her car.
- A federal judge in November dismissed the charges against Martinez, after videos of an agent turning his vehicle into Martinez's car surfaced.
Zoom in: Two New York Democrats, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Joe Morelle, are also highlighting immigration with their picks.
- Raiza Contreras, whose son, Dylan was detained by ICE despite receiving permission to enter the country until his court date, will attend as Schumer's guest.
- Morelle is bringing the president and CEO of the Ibero-American Action League Inc., a multi-service agency that advocates for Latinos and underserved communities.
Worth noting: George Retes, a 26-year-old U.S. citizen and disabled Army veteran, filed a lawsuit against the federal government last Wednesday, saying he was held in a detention center for three days without access to a lawyer, his family or information about the charges against him.
- Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) shared that he invited Retes, who was assaulted by ICE agents on his way to work, per the lawsuit.
What we're watching: It's unclear whether Democrats have planned any coordinated demonstrations during the address, but many are making a statement through the guests they've chosen to spotlight.
The other side: Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Lauren Bis in a Tuesday statement accused Democrats of placing undocumented immigrants "above the safety of American citizens."
- Trump invited families of people allegedly killed by undocumented immigrants as his State of the Union guests, the New York Times reported.
- The parents of Sarah Beckstrom, the 20-year-old National Guard member who was killed in Washington, D.C., were invited, per CBS News, along with 7-year-old Dalilah Coleman, who was injured in a California car pileup allegedly caused by a truck driver not authorized to be in the U.S.
- The White House did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
Go deeper: Democratic response to Trump's SOTU becomes a crowded affair
Axios' April Rubin contributed reporting to this story.
This story has been updated with comment from DHS.
