The Republican congressman wrote in a statement that he'd already contacted the U.S. Capitol police as well as Attorney General Jeff Sessions, asking them to check the IDs of anyone who attends the State of the Union. (Presumably, they already do this, because, you know, security.)
He also argued that any "illegal aliens" attempting to go through security should be immediately arrested and deported, regardless of whether or not they'd been formally invited to the event.
On Twitter, outgoing senator Jeff Flake responded, "This is why we can't have nice things."
Though a number of Democrats are boycotting Trump's State of the Union address, plenty of others are bringing guests intended to send a political statement. According to the Huffington Post, nearly 30 Democratic lawmakers plan to bring Dreamers.
That includes Arizona congressmen Ruben Gallego and Raul Grijalva.
Gallego will be bringing Antonio Valdovinos, a 27-year-old DACA recipient from Phoenix who was unable to join to the Marine Corps due to his legal status. Valdovinos went on to work in grassroots activism, leading get-out-the-vote efforts for Phoenix City Council candidates. He now owns his own business, La Machine Field Operations, which works to get progressive candidates elected in Arizona.
Grijalva plans to bring Arisaid, a Dreamer from Arizona who now attends Georgetown University, he wrote in a tweet.
Last year, Gallego and Grijalva brought Angel and Jacqueline Garcia de Rayos as their guests shortly after their mother, Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, was deported. The two Mesa teenagers, who are U.S. citizens, held a press conference at the Capitol asking Trump and Congress to stop splitting up immigrant families.Meet my guest for the #SOTU: Arisaid, a #Dreamer from Arizona and a student at Georgetown University. Despite what Trump says tonight, I’ll continue fighting for Dreamers and all of our immigrant community. #ProtectDreamers pic.twitter.com/PXIOuI4y5k
— Raul M. Grijalva (@RepRaulGrijalva) January 30, 2018
"We believe it is important for Donald Trump to face the people who have been victimized by his disastrous policies," Gallego wrote in a statement at the time.
Don't expect Gosar to be sympathetic, though. In a recent Facebook post, he claimed that "Daca-aged illegals" commit a disproportionate share of crimes, including kidnapping, murder, and sexual assault. That claim was throughly debunked by the Arizona Republic — but Gosar has yet to admit that he was wrong.
