By Editorial Board January 31 at 7:02 PM

IN HIS State of the Union address, President Trump seemed intent on burying any chance of enacting legislation to protect the “dreamers.” Instead of reaching out to Democrats to fashion a readily achievable compromise, the president injected more ethno-nationalist venom into a debate he already has done much to poison.

… Instead, Mr. Trump chose in the most inflammatory way possible to associate immigrants with a horrific crime committed by a vicious gang. Rather than reminding Americans of their common roots as immigrants and stressing that immigration is the cornerstone of the American story, Mr. Trump vilified them. He would have Americans believe that compassionate treatment for unaccompanied minors who cross the border, often fleeing violence and poverty, or family-based immigration is somehow akin to acquiescing in the homicidal nihilism of MS-13. …

Maybe the saddest moment of the speech came when Mr. Trump tried to knock the dreamers off their sympathetic perch with the cleverly contemptuous line, “Americans are dreamers, too.” Yes, of course, Americans are dreamers. But he should finish the thought. For most dreamers, the United States is the only country they know. Dreamers are U.S. soldiers, high school valedictorians, the young couple living next door. Yes, Americans are dreamers — and dreamers are Americans. If only we had a president who understood as much.