--- title: How Donald Trump Made DACA More Divisive With One Phrase description: During his 2018 State of the Union address, Donald Trump spoke of his desire to tighten immigration, saying "Americans are dreamers, too." canonical: https://time.com/5127304/trump-americans-are-dreamers-too/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-31T19:25:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:05:31.397Z article:section: Politics og:title: How Donald Trump Made DACA More Divisive With One Phrase og:description: 'Americans are Dreamers, too' og:url: https://time.com/5127304/trump-americans-are-dreamers-too/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f023b27b76f9da3/6988fa09bc6cfc79733e4d1c/gettyimages-9124237401.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3450 og:image:height: 1941 og:image:alt: President Trump Addresses The Nation In His First State Of The Union Address To Joint Session Of Congress og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Donald Trump Made DACA More Divisive With One Phrase twitter:description: 'Americans are Dreamers, too' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f023b27b76f9da3/6988fa09bc6cfc79733e4d1c/gettyimages-9124237401.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How President Trump Made the DACA Debate More Divisive With One Phrase > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7184fa13-639d-4e36-a655-ca9a815a39a0&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jan 31, 2018 7:25 PM UTC  WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 30: U.S. President Donald J. Trump delivers the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives January 30, 2018 in Washington, DC. This is the first State of the Union address given by U.S. President Donald Trump and his second joint-session address to Congress. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 30: U.S. President Donald J. Trump delivers the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives January 30, 2018 in Washington, DC. This is the first State of the Union address given by U.S. President Donald Trump and his second joint-session address to Congress. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) Win McNamee—Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jan 31, 2018 7:25 PM UTC In his first [State of the Union](http://time.com/5126251/donald-trump-state-union-analysis/?xid=homepage) address on Tuesday night, [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/5125856/democrat-rebuttal-trump-state-union/) addressed his desire to tighten the border by emphasizing “immigration policies that focus on the best interests of American workers and American families.” Trump called on members of Congress to work together on immigration reform to “defend Americans — to protect their safety, their families, their communities, and their right to the American Dream. Because Americans are dreamers, too.” Immediately, critics, journalists, activists and other commentators took to social media to question the phrase “Americans are dreamers, too,” suggesting that it amounted to a racist dog-whistle against immigrants. Former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau cited [polling](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/americans-back-daca-huge-margin-poll/story?id=50032985) that shows the vast majority of Americans feel that people brought to the U.S. as children should have the right to remain, as [DACA](http://time.com/5120633/trump-daca-plan-immigration-reaction/) would have allowed them to do before Trump announced he would end it: > [](https://twitter.com/jonfavs/status/958726769879773185) ThinkProgress editor-in-chief Judd Legum cited the phrase’s popularity among white nationalists: > [](https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/958752448759455744) And, indeed, perhaps the two most notorious white supremacists active today tweeted out the phrase after Trump used it: > [](https://twitter.com/RichardBSpencer/status/958534155049959424) > [](https://twitter.com/DrDavidDuke/status/958534057159249921) Vox journalist Dara Lind pointed out that Trump used similar language when he announced he would end DACA: > [](https://twitter.com/DLind/status/958732148848123905) Journalist and academic Jason Johnson was one of many to compare “Americans are dreamers too” with the anti-Black Lives Matter phrase “All Lives Matter”: > [](https://twitter.com/DrJasonJohnson/status/958730002148876288) For those who view the language as anti-immigrant, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gave a succinct explanation: > [](https://twitter.com/newtgingrich/status/958534201753702401) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5127304/trump-americans-are-dreamers-too/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5127304/trump-americans-are-dreamers-too/"},"headline":"How President Trump Made the DACA Debate More Divisive With One Phrase","datePublished":"2018-01-31T19:25:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:05:31.397Z","description":"Donald Trump spoke of his desire to tighten immigration in the State of the Union, saying \"Americans are dreamers too.\"","url":"https://time.com/5127304/trump-americans-are-dreamers-too/","keywords":["Immigration","DACA","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f023b27b76f9da3/6988fa09bc6cfc79733e4d1c/gettyimages-9124237401.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f023b27b76f9da3/6988fa09bc6cfc79733e4d1c/gettyimages-9124237401.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Trump Addresses The Nation In His First State Of The Union Address To Joint Session Of Congress","caption":"President Trump Addresses The Nation In His First State Of The Union Address To Joint Session Of Congress","creditText":"Win McNamee—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/immigration/","name":"Immigration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5127304/trump-americans-are-dreamers-too/","name":"How President Trump Made the DACA Debate More Divisive With One Phrase"}}]}] ```