Washington, DC
Refugees and the media.
Neither have been particularly popular with President Donald Trump since he took office last month.
But members of the Massachusetts delegation in Congress made sure both were represented when Trump addressed a joint session on Tuesday night.
U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward J. Markey both chose to bring former refugees as their guests.
Tiba Faraj, a former refugee from Iraq and current junior at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth accompanied Warren, according to a statement from the senator’s office. Faraj’s father was shot and left permanently disabled while working for an American-backed development organization in Iraq. Her family fled to Jordan and began the long process of applying for refugee status.
They were granted admission in 2010 and settled in Massachusetts. Faraj is now a U.S. citizen.
“Like many before her, Tiba came to America seeking a better life,” Warren said in the release. “Tiba’s courage, resilience and optimism embody the very best of the American spirit. Our strength as a country is rooted in our diversity, and Tiba’s many contributions have made us that much stronger.”
Markey’s guest, Said Ahmed, of Boston, fled violence in his home country of Somalia. He came to Boston at the age of 12. Today, he is a teacher in the Boston Public Schools and founder of a nonprofit aimed at helping young Somali refugees in Boston, United Somali Youth, according to a press release from Markey’s office.
“The United States was built and continues to thrive because of refugees like Said,” Markey said in the release. “America offered Said a safe refuge from violence, and in return, he offered us his energy, his intelligence and his skills. Said is a valued and productive member of our community and an integral part of Massachusetts’s way of life.”
Since his inauguration last month, Trump has signed an executive order barring Syrian refugees from entering the U.S. indefinitely and bars all other refugees for 120 days. The order, which has since been blocked by a judge, also bars visitors for 90 days from seven predominately Muslim countries: Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.
Trump said the move was necessary to protect Americans from would-be terrorists and he has said he would issue a new executive order that will withstand court challenges.
Both Markey and Warren have expressed their opposition to Trump’s policies surrounding immigration and refugees.
“The courts blocked Donald Trump’s [executive order] because it trampled on Constitutional rights, and I anticipate any attempts to repackage it will meet the same fate,” Markey said in the release.
And Warren referred to Trump’s order as “illegal” and “immoral” in a tweet on Feb. 4 expressing relief at the temporary block to the order.
U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, chose to bring Shannon Young, a politics reporter with the Springfield Republican and MassLive.com.
The congressman’s choice continues a personal tradition of bringing a member of the press as his guest to hear the president. Eagle Editor Kevin Moran was Neal’s guest for President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address in 2014.
Neal represents the state’s 1st Congressional District, which includes the Berkshires.
Trump has routinely criticized coverage of himself and his administration, recently calling the media “the enemy of the American people.”
Other members of Congress also chose to use Tuesday’s address to make a statement against Trump.
U.S. Rep. Nydia M. Velazquez of New York’s 7th Congressional District invited Hameed Khalid Darweesh, a former translator for American forces in Iraq, according to the New York Times. Darweesh was detained at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York last month under Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order.
Other guests included undocumented immigrants who were protected from deportation under former President Barack Obama, the Times said.
