Five Years of the "Same Rhetoric": Immigration Activist Faults Obama's SOTU, Deportation Policy 1/2

http://www.democracynow.org - At last night's State of the Union, a DREAM activist was among the guests invited by First Lady Michelle Obama. Twenty-three-year-old Cristian Avila of Arizona fasted for 22 days to push for immigration reform as part of the "Fast for Families" campaign, which took place on the National Mall. But Obama made no reference to Avila, and limited his remarks on immigration to a short passage. "This has been the same rhetoric that we've been hearing for the last five years," says Lorella Praeli, Director of Advocacy and Policy at the United We Dream Coalition. "For us, we don't need to give any room to the president on deportations and we don't need to give any more room to Republicans on immigration either. We have been waiting and fighting to get something done. The president's remarks could have gone in deeper and set some legislative markers as well." Democracy Now!, is an independent global news hour that airs weekdays on 1,200+ TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream 8-9am ET at http://www.democracynow.org. Please consider supporting independent media by making a donation to Democracy Now! today, visit http://owl.li/ruJ5Q. FOLLOW DEMOCRACY NOW! ONLINE: Facebook:   / democracynow   Twitter: @democracynow Subscribe on YouTube:    / democracynow   Listen on SoundCloud:   / democracynow   Daily Email News Digest: http://www.democracynow.org/subscribe Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DemocracyNow Instagram:   / democracynow   Tumblr:   / democracynow   Pinterest:   / democracynow