Jimmy Kimmel, example for white men everywhere, is quickly becoming known for his his political takes, which he openly incorporates into Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Last night, he took on DACA, the program that entitles Dreamers (undocumented immigrants brought here as children) a chance at long-term, legal residency. Trump and his supporters have historically been against the program, although the President’s stance in recent months has become frustratingly vague. Anyway, Jimmy did something the President seems particularly incapable of doing: he attempted to bring both sides together by introducing a group of anti-DACA Trump supporters to a Dreamer facing deportation.
In the incredibly poignant, but somewhat depressing (if you have a soul) video segment, Kimmel starts off by chatting with a few Trump supporters ranging from red-hat-wearing MAGA types to a Republican woman who was once an undocumented immigrant herself, but by her own accord, sought legal status. He then introduces the group to Esmeralda and her American-born infant daughter. Esmeralda was brought to the U.S. when she was two. As per Trump’s policies, she is now faced with the possibility of deportation. As the segment goes on, Esmeralda is joined by her fiancé and the father of her child, a Kansas-born member of the Army National Guard about to be deployed overseas. As Kimmel explains, Esmeralda may be forced to leave the very country that her husband is serving.
Kimmel attempts to broker some sort of understanding between the two sides, but pretty much to no avail. Despite the women’s arguably tragic circumstances (and the fact that she goes to nursing school, pays her taxes, and has a social security card), most of the group, save one woman, still believe she should be deported. They don’t so much as flinch at the idea that without DACA, obtaining legal status could take Esmeralda 10 years. “That’s what it takes then,” says one of the Trump-ets.
Major props to Kimmel for trying putting a human face to the issue, and even more props to Esmeralda and her husband for maintaining their composure in the literal face of such unabashed demagoguery.
