Rep. Stanton invites DACA recipient to Trump’s State of the Union speech

PHOENIX – As an undocumented immigrant, Ellie Perez isn’t allowed to work in Congress.

But the Phoenix woman whose parents brought her to the U.S. when she was 4 will be inside the Capitol on Tuesday when President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address.

Perez, who was born in Mexico, will be the guest of Rep. Greg Stanton, the Arizona Democrat announced Friday.

“She’s an incredibly talented person who’s worked at the city of Phoenix, worked on my campaign, but unfortunately because of her status is not allowed to work it the United States Congress,” Stanton, who stepped down as Phoenix mayor to run for Congress last year, told KTAR News 92.3 FM.

In 2013, Perez became one of the hundreds of thousands of young immigrants who were granted permission to work legally and given protection from deportation under the Deferred Action for Early Childhood Arrivals program.

Trump has attempted to phase out the policy, which was implemented by his predecessor, Barack Obama.

After graduation from Arizona State University, Perez became the first DACA recipient to be employed by the city of Phoenix, according to a press release from Stanton’s office.

“The reason I brought her is because she’s an incredibly talented person, but also to symbolize this effort that we need to have to pass comprehensive immigration reform and to allow young people, talented people like Ellie, to work on Capitol Hill so we have the benefit of their talent,” Stanton said.

Programming note: KTAR News 92.3 FM will cover President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address live starting at 7 p.m. Arizona time on Tuesday. 

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Ali Vetnar contributed to this report.

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