This GOP congressman wants police to arrest DREAMers at the State of the Union

(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

published 30 January 2018

More than 20 DREAMers are expected to attend tonight's State of the Union address. If Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) gets his way, they'll all be arrested.

Gosar announced on Twitter that he has asked U.S. Capitol Police and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to "consider checking identification of all attending the State of the Union address and arresting any illegal aliens in attendance." Several congressional Democrats have invited DREAMers — undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States by their parents as young children — as their guests for tonight's address.

Capitol Police and the Justice Department have yet to comment on the prospect of arresting the invited guests. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) did, however, express his disapproval with Gosar's idea.

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Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.