Washington, D.C. – Following the State of the Union address given by President Joe Biden (D) last Tuesday night, lawmakers were asked to opine on the issues, like illegal immigration, addressed in the President's speech.
The Floridian was able to catch up with a member of “The Squad” in the House, Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN).
When asked about the President’s speech and what she did and did not like about it, Rep. Omar stated, “I just love the fact that he was animated, and yes, funny; but animated about a lot of the core policies that we all care about and have been pushing for."
"Whether it is taxing billionaires, whether it is antitrust, whether it is defending Social Security, Medicaid, whether it is addressing the climate crisis, environmental justice; he was very animated about that, caring for our children, our seniors, our veterans," Rep. Omar added.
However, when it came to the parts of the speech Rep. Omar was not fond of, she explained that the President isn’t doing enough at the border for those looking to flee from their home countries to make it to the United States.
“But when it came to talking about immigration, I felt like I didn’t hear the details, the excitement, the energy of what we actually can do together as a country to move the needle forward. It’s an issue that’s dear to me,” Omar stated.
Rep. Omar, a Somali refugee who was granted asylum in the United States in 1995, would go on to justify her thoughts on the issue.
“I certainly am somebody who believes in international rights to seek asylum. I know that we are a country of immigrants. And I know that we have the tools within our toolbox. So it would have been nice to hear the President in an animated, detailed way to talk about what we are going to do and how we are going to address immigration,” said Rep. Omar.
In response to Omar's concerns about Biden's immigration policy. Florida Rep. Michael Waltz questioned by Omar would be so upset with his immigration agenda.
“One would that think that would be layup to say ‘hey, look, let’s go after the cartels.’ You don’t even have to talk about securing the border…I don’t even know what she is upset with,” said Rep. Waltz.
During the speech, the President stated that he looks to make a bipartisan effort to address immigration reform.