SACRAMENTO – Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Palo Alto) today issued the following statement after President Trump issued several executive orders related to immigration:
President Trump’s executive orders targeting immigrants and turning away refugees from war-torn countries is a violation of basic human rights and disregards the principles upon which our country was founded. I am committed to protecting all Californians from this gross federal overreach.
My own family is only alive and thriving today because the United States didn’t turn us away or build a wall to keep us out in our time of need. My maternal grandmother’s family escaped the Warsaw Ghetto and my maternal grandfather’s family fled Nazi Germany the day Hitler came to power. My father came to America after working with other student activists in South Africa to oppose Apartheid, running afoul of the nationalist government. In President Trump’s America, there wouldn’t have been a place for us and so many others who have gone on to discover medical and scientific breakthroughs, start businesses, fight to defend democracy, and create the art, music, and literature that make the United States the envy of the world.
We all have an immigrant story — even President Trump. Whether yours is a few hundred years old or only a few months, we must not lose sight of our nation’s history as a beacon of hope for those fleeing persecution, war, poverty, and famine in search of a better life and the American dream. America’s story is not one of ‘we got here first and now you’re on your own,’ it’s one of ‘our families reached the land of the free and now it’s our turn to help protect you and lift you up, because when you rise, we all rise.'
Assemblymember Marc Berman represents the 24th Assembly District which includes North Fair Oaks, Atherton, East Palo Alto, Half Moon Bay, Menlo Park, Portola Valley, Woodside and Pescadero in San Mateo County, and Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale and a portion of Cupertino in Santa Clara County. Website of Assemblymember Marc Berman: https://a23.asmdc.org
Contact: Kaitlin Curry, (916) 319-2024