ALI
Good evening everyone, I’m Ali Rami and welcome to the tonight show

Tonight, we have a very special show lined up for you.
You all know how things have been since Trump became president: he tried to end Obamacare, he became even better friends with Putin and somehow managed not to destroy the country.
What he did try to destroy is immigration: just this september he ended another of Obama’s programs, the DACA or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival which protected young undocumented immigrants and gave them a chance to become American citizens. Prior to that, he issued a very controversial travel ban aimed at Muslim countries back in January, just a few weeks into his presidency.
Today, we have 2  immigrants  with us.  Please welcome Johan and Imane.

IMANE
Hello! Thanks for having us

ALI
You guys are both somehow recent immigrants, how was your experience?

IMANE
Well, immigrating here wasn’t easy. The most stressful thing was when I was stopped at the immigration gate at JFK just after landing, because I didn't know if I’d be able to get into the country. But things eventually worked out and my 2 brothers and I moved here 2012 after our mom died in the war. I love Syria, but I knew that if I ever wanted to accomplish my dreams in life, I had to come here.

ALI
So you wanted to live the American dream?

IMANE
You could say that. And I’m really proud of how it went.
I had a double degree in journalism and arabic from back home, so the first year I came here, I was lucky enough to find part time work at a couple different papers as a translator. My view on my home country's war interested my bosses so I ended up writing columns about how I felt about the war in my country. I really liked doing that because I felt like I was in contact with my homeland and like I was being accepted for who I was in my new home.

ALI
What about you Johan?

JOHAN
Hmm well, my immigration experience was far easier. I come from Bogota, Columbia, but my father’s was an ambassador in DC, so I moved up here for high school. Long story short, although I don’t have and probably never will have the American nationality, I’m basically treated as one everywhere I go. I didn’t have trouble signing up for college and it was no problem to get bank and insurance.

ALI
Yeah we often hear about students that are really brilliant in high school but that don’t get to go to college because they don’t have the paperwork

JOHAN
To be honest, I think it’s sad that everything just works out well for me because I come from a privileged backround but that well-educated people like Imane struggle to find even very basic jobs.
That’s exactly what’s being reinforced with Trump’s policies. Trump doesn’t really want any immigrants, but if he must, he wants them to be already rich.
Imo, that’s contrary to the whole concept of American Dream we spoke about earlier.

IMANE
I agree. What makes the American dream is opportunity. If I tried to come to the US now, I probably wouldn't be able to,just because I’m Syrian. What Trump needs to understand is that America is a country made by its immigrant.

ALI
I myself am from an immigrant background, my grandparents are from Morocco and they always tell me how much trouble it was immigrating into the us

We’re running out of time, I’d like to thank both of you and our listeners for being here today. Be here tomorrow at the same time.

JOHAN
Thanks for having us. And to you all immigrants watching us, remember that everything will only get better from now on.

IMANE
And you guys are welcome to ask us more questions on Twitter.