Julia Louis-Dreyfus Slams Immigration Ban: ‘My Father Fled Religious Persecution.’

Image by Getty
“Veep” star Julia Louis-Dreyfus nabbed a SAG award for outstanding female actor in a comedy series on Sunday — and delivered a powerful message on President Trump’s immigration ban to boot.
“Whether the Russians did or did not hack the voting of tonight’s SAG awards, I look out at the million or probably even a million and a half people in this room, and I say this award is legitimate and I won,” she began. “I’m the winner, the winner is me. Landslide!”
The actress went onto call the Trump’s recent immigration ban “un-American.”
“I want you all to know, I am the daughter of an immigrant,” she said. “My father fled religious persecution in Nazi-occupied France. I’m an American patriot and I love this country, and because I love this country I am horrified by its blemishes.”
“This immigrant ban is a blemish,” she concluded to uproarious applause.
The actress expressed her disgust with the executive order earlier today on Twitter, attaching an article about a scholarship winning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology-bound Syrian teen dealing with the fall out of Trump’s ban.
“This cannot be allowed to stand,” Louis-Dreyfus wrote. “This is not American.”
This cannot be allowed to stand. This is not American. https://t.co/PRvG0sRYGc
— Julia Louis-Dreyfus (@OfficialJLD) January 29, 2017
Thea Glassman is an Associate Editor at the Forward. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter at @theakglassman.
Hello, fellow Forward reader! I’m Joel Brown, a Forward reader and supporter for more than 15 years, and currently the chair of the board of directors.
I’m an avid Forward reader because it ticks so many of my essential boxes: excellent journalism, Jewish focus and diverse viewpoints. In today’s political climate, what I most appreciate is the Forward’s independence — made possible by the generosity of its membership.
The Forward is committed to bringing you unbiased, nuanced Jewish news. From my position as board chair, I see an exciting future as we expand our position as the definitive independent voice of contemporary American Judaism.
That’s why I’m paying it Forward, by matching $36,000 of reader gifts. It’s an investment in the Forward’s newsroom, to continue telling the American Jewish story with truth and independence.
— Joel Brown, Forward board chair
