The White House announced Monday the list of guests who will accompany President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump to the 2019 State of the Union address.
The guests include families affected by illegal immigrant crime, persons granted relief through criminal justice reform, law enforcement officers and persons struggling with the opioid crisis. (RELATED: White House Reveals Plans For State Of The Union)
The president told The Daily Caller in an exclusive Oval Office interview last week that some of his guests would be “border-related” as the fight over wall funding rages on in Congress. Indeed, three generations of family members of Gerald and Sharon David, a couple killed by an illegal immigrant in Nevada in January 2019, will accompany the Trumps to SOTU.
“I will say that some of them will be border-related, some of them will be people who have suffered very badly because we didn’t do what we should’ve done in a very dangerous part of our country, and so that’s going to be a part of it, absolutely,” Trump told the Caller.
Trump also invited Elvin Hernandez, a Special Agent with the Department of Homeland Security who has worked to combat human trafficking by transnational organizations. The president has repeatedly pointed to high levels of human trafficking as a sign of what he calls the humanitarian and national security crisis on the border.
Full list of guests:
- Debra Bissell, Heather Armstrong, and Madison Armstrong: Family members of Gerald and Sharon David of Reno, Nevada, who were killed by an illegal immigrant
- Matthew Charles: A former drug dealer who was the first prisoner released under the First Step Act
- Grace Eline: A child cancer survivor
- Ashley Evans: A mother who is celebrating one month sobriety after spending much of her life addicted to opioids
- Elvin Hernandez: A Special Agent with DHS specializing in combating human trafficking
- Roy James: Plant Manager of the Vicksburg Forest Products lumber facility, which closed down until it received assistance through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
- Timothy Matson: A SWAT officer who suffered multiple gunshot wounds while responding to the October mass shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue
- Judah Samet: A member of the Tree of Life Synagogue and a Holocaust survivor
- Joshua Trump: A 6th grade student who is bullied for his last name
- Tom Wibberley: The father of Navy Seaman Craig Wibberley, a Seaman killed on the U.S.S. Cole
- Alice Johnson: Received clemency from President Trump after serving nearly 22 years in prison for a nonviolent drug offense
“This year’s guests come from all different walks of life, and each has an incredible story to tell. No matter their background, each one has something important in common: They represent the very best of America,” the White House said in a Monday press release.
