Rep Madeleine Dean asks Trump to focus on DC shooting victims, not on action against immigrants
WASHINGTON, DC: Rep Madeleine Dean (D-PA), on Friday, November 28, urged President Donald Trump to concentrate on the victims of the DC shooting instead of retaliating with sweeping immigration actions.
Two West Virginia National Guard members, Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, were shot in the attack allegedly carried out by Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29. Beckstrom succumbed to her injuries a day after the attack.
According to Dean, the absolute minimum the incident deserves is that attention, compassion, and careful investigation are devoted to it, rather than reactionary policy moves.
Madeleine Dean calls Trump's approach ‘a leap that makes no sense whatsoever'
On CNN’s 'News Central', Madeleine Dean urged Donald Trump not to lose sight of the tragedy; she wished the POTUS "would stay focused on the sadness and offer sympathy, continuing sympathy to these families."
"Let's take a look at exactly what happened here," Dean said. "How were these people in this setting and at this risk? Who is this suspect? What were his motivations?"
The congresswoman stressed that said violent act, "possibly political violence," does not justify broad restrictions on immigrants, adding that it "does not equate to 19 countries and immigrants from all over the world."
Dean called Trump's approach "a leap that makes no sense whatsoever" and described the actions as "hectic" and consistent with "the way of this administration."
Madeleine Dean says Americans should be ‘thankful for the immigrant population’
Madeleine Dean mentioned that one of her wishes is to see Donald Trump going back to the priorities he laid out when he first came into office, which she described as "bringing peace to our country and around the world, bringing prices down, and not making sweeping accusations against all immigrants," and added that such accusations are "just un-American."
Moreover, she pointed out that the Thanksgiving period is an excellent opportunity to remember the immigrant workers who are the backbone of the US.
She said Americans should be "thankful for the immigrant population who comes and makes our country richer," noting that "most of us are immigrants."
The two soldiers who were shot in the DC attack were deployed to the capital as part of Trump's crime crackdown initiative.
The suspect, Lakanwal, an Afghan national who came to the US under the former administration's evacuation program, has become a source of political backlash. This backlash has led to the announcement that immigration from some countries will be temporarily suspended.
