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By inviting the relatives of people killed by undocumented immigrants to sit with Melania Trump tonight at his address to Congress, President Trump is "stirring up fear and hatred against immigrants" in an attempt to "divide our nation," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Tuesday.

"The murder of anyone is a tragedy, and our hearts go out to all families who lose a loved one to violence," Sanders said in a statement. "But let's be clear about what Donald Trump is doing tonight in inviting family members who saw a loved one murdered by an undocumented immigrant. He is stirring up fear and hatred against immigrants and trying to divide our nation. That is his political strategy and we must not allow him to get away with it."



Sanders also questioned why Trump didn't invite the family of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, the Indian immigrant recently "shot down in cold blood by a white, native born American. Didn't his life count? Why didn't he invite the families of the black parishioners shot down in a church in South Carolina by racist Dylann Roof? Weren't their lives important? President Trump, any murder is a tragedy. Don't use these tragedies to stir up divisions by race and nationality."