I just finished delivering the Spanish language response to President Trump’s State of the Union at my former high school, where I spoke among our nation’s future leaders.
I am the son of immigrants from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. My parents arrived in the United States with little more than faith in each other and in the promise of the country they would soon call home: that everyone who works hard and plays by the rules can get ahead.
My parents started with nothing. Today, we live the American Dream, and I have the privilege as California’s Attorney General to defend the rights of millions of Americans.
The state of our union decides our destinies, but right now, our union is in chaos. How can we move forward when the president doesn’t know how to drive?
Our federal government was shut down for 35 days, with another potential shutdown looming, because of President Trump’s extravagant obsession with building a wall that experts don’t want — not to mention that he promised Mexico would pay for.
Unfortunately, the wall with Mexico is not the only wall President Trump is trying to build. He’s putting a wall between you and your doctor, a wall between you and the voting booth, a wall between veterans and the protections they more than earned, a wall between students and the chance of living debt-free, and a wall between parents and their children.
Debemos derribar estos muros — we must tear down these walls. When my parents arrived in this country, they faced signs that said “no dogs or Mexicans allowed.” I know what damage these walls can do and who they exclude.
As California’s Attorney General, I’ve taken President Trump to court 45 times for harming our families and breaking our laws — and I’m not done fighting to protect our communities.
As we move forward to defend rights of all Americans, as we raise our voices to be heard by our elected officials in Washington, as we march in the streets and to the polls, together we’ll keep the doors of opportunity open throughout this country.
Gracias por luchar junto conmigo — thank you for fighting alongside me,
Xavier
