You definitely know Kumail Nanjiani and Lupita Nyong'o, but as they pointed out during their presentation for the Oscar for Best Production design, you might not be able to pronounce their names.
“Actually, I have to come clean. Kumail Nanjiani is my stage name,” Nanjiani, nominated for Best Original Screenplay along with his wife, Emily Gordon, for their film The Big Sick. “My actual given Pakistani name is Chris Pine. So, you can imagine how annoyed I was when the other, when the white Chris Pine showed up. The real Chris Pine.”
Nanjiani, who is originally from Pakistan, and Nyong'o who was born in Mexico City to Kenyan parents, celebrated immigrants during their speech, giving a touching tribute to the Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children.
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“Like everyone in this room, and everyone watching at home, we are Dreamers,” Nyong'o said. “We grew up dreaming of one day working in movies. Dreams are the foundation of Hollywood. And dreams are the foundational of America. And so, to all the dreamers out there, we stand with you.”
The timing is no coincidence: the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, better known as DACA, was set expire tomorrow, March 5, but that deadline has now been rendered effectively meaningless by the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the Trump administration's appeal of a federal ruling requiring the government to keep accepting DACA renewal applications.
Back in September, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Trump administration intended to rescind the 2012 program implemented under President Obama through executive action, and which deferred deportations of Dreamers. The program also provided roughly 800,000 undocumented youth a two-year renewable work permit. President Trump said that Congress was expected to introduce legislation to replace the program, but so far things have been at a standstill.
You can watch the whole speech below:
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