While the majority of San Diego County’s Democratic congressional delegation sits out Tuesday’s State of the Union address by President Donald Trump, one representative is bringing the daughter of a deported immigrant couple to highlight immigration issues.

Rep. Mike Levin (D-49) said he understands why some colleagues are boycotting and supports their decision. Levin will bring Stephanie Quintino, the daughter of a deported immigrant couple, as his guest to the State of the Union, he announced Monday.

According to Levin’s office, Quintino’s parents, Gladys and Nelson Gonzalez, were deported to Colombia a year ago after being detained by ICE during a routine check-in. They had lived in Southern California for 35 years and reportedly had no criminal record.

“What happened to my parents is happening to millions of undocumented immigrants across the country. They are working hard, paying their taxes, have no criminal records, and are contributing positively to their communities,” Stephanie Quintino said. “I’m going to the State of the Union to put a face to the horrors of President Trump’s mass deportation operations. ICE is ripping families, like mine, apart, and causing incredible trauma.”

The remaining Democratic members of the San Diego congressional delegation — Reps. Sara Jacobs (D-51), Scott Peters (D-50) and Juan Vargas (D-52) — said they will not attend the address.

“President Trump’s policies have caused so much harm to San Diego’s cross-border and immigrant community, so I won’t be attending tonight’s State of the Union and normalizing his abuses of power, corruption, and disastrous economic policies,” Jacobs said in a statement to City News Service.

“Instead, I will join people who are bearing the consequences of his decisions: from those who’ve been kicked off Medicaid to (convicted sex offender Jeffrey) Epstein survivors to those who’ve been traumatized by ICE and Border Patrol to paint a realistic picture of the actual state of our union.”

District 50 Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, posted on X that while he is not attending, he is not formally calling for a boycott.

“For the first time since I came to Congress in 2013, I will not attend the State of the Union address,”  Peters said. “President Trump has shown complete disregard for Congress, for the laws of our land and the Constitution, and he has not respected the office of the Presidency. I do not respect him and will not attend his speech.”

District 52 Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, posted a video on X saying he will not attend the address.

“I’ll be boycotting it because the truth is, the state of the union is terrible at the moment,” Vargas said. “We have ICE terrorizing our communities. We have families that can’t make ends meet. He’s taken healthcare away from millions of people. And now, he is destroying our democracy.”

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-48) will be in attendance and is looking forward to hearing Trump “take a victory lap” and then expand on his vision for, particularly concerning Greenland, drug trafficking and inflation, he told the Washington Reporter.

CBS News reported that Trump plans to honor military veteran and Escondido resident E. Royce Williams with the Medal of Honor during Tuesday’s speech. Issa was instrumental in getting the former Top Gun pilot recognized for a heroic mission during the Korean War he kept secret for 50 years.

Williams, now 100 years old and a retired Navy captain, will be recognized for facing off against seven Soviet MiG fighter jets in 1952, shooting four of them down in the process and narrowly surviving amid extensive enemy gunfire to his jet. When the mission was over, they counted 263 bullet holes in his plane.

Williams was awarded the Navy Cross in 2023 and now will receive the United States’ highest military decoration. Williams was informed of the decision in a phone call from President Donald Trump in early February.