Locals weigh in ahead of State of Union address
President Donald Trump is expected to deliver a unifying message at his first State of the Union address Tuesday night.
The speech is expected to focus heavily on immigration as the president is offering a pathway to citizenship for nearly two million recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program. Hundreds of thousands of them currently rely on DACA for legal status and work permits. In exchange for their path, President Trump wants $25 billion for the border wall and security, changes to the diversity visa lottery program and an end to family-based migration.
“For many, many years, they’ve been talking immigration. They never got anything done,” President Trump said. “We’re going to get something done.”
Infrastructure is another hot topic to watch out for in the speech. President Trump reportedly wants more than $1 trillion to fix America’s roads and bridges. KESQ News Channel 3’s and CBS Local 2’s Katie Widner ventured out to the streets of the Coachella Valley to speak with members of the local community about their thoughts on the address. People from both sides of the aisle weighed in.
“I’m hoping that he keeps it clean and I hope that the mistruths are at a low level.” said Elle Kurpiewski, the political director for the Democratic Headquarters of the Desert.
“People are concentrating so much on what they want him to say so they can get mad and have a response,” said Palm Springs resident Jason Nutter. “How about we just go into this thing hoping for the best?”
The President, who is known for sowing divisiveness, expects to give a unifying speech, according to White House aides.
“I think he’s going to get down to business,” said Joy Miedecke, the president of the East Valley Republican Women Federated. “We know he’s going to talk a lot about what he’s done and the anticipation of what he’s going to do is what we’re really excited about.”
President Trump is also expected to tout the economic progress that occurred during his first year in office. While supporters say the president is running the country as if it were a business, others are still concerned.
“It appears that, at this point, there are some immediate pluses. The stock market is doing well,” said Wayne Boggs. “My biggest concerns are climate control. The current power structure does not favor climate change and that’s important.”
Administration officials said the speech has been in the works for “many weeks.” The public will now be watching to see if the president sticks to it.
“In one year, we’ve had millions marching in protest because of what this man has said and some of the policies he’s been putting out,” Kurpiewski said. “It’s when he goes off script that he says a variety of things that are offensive.”
A Republican viewing party will be held at the headquarters at 78870 Highway 111 in La Quinta. Doors are expected to open at 5 p.m. Kurpiewski said many Democrats will be more interested in watching the Democratic response to the speech, which will be done by up-and-coming politician U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III, of Massachusetts.
