Last week, Democratic presidential candidate and former Governor of Maryland Martin O’Malley sat down for a historic meal with a DAPA-eligible family from Austin, Texas, to hear how the program would benefit them.
O’Malley’s visit with the Ramirez family — consisting of several DACA-recipient children, a U.S. citizen child, and DAPA-eligible parents — is the first time to our knowledge that a Presidential candidate has visited the home of a family headed by undocumented immigrants.
During the dinner, the family discussed how their lives have been impacted by Congress’s inaction on immigration reform, as well as the partisan lawsuit blocking the implementation of DAPA, which would protect the family’s parents from deportation and allow them to work legally in the country and continue contributing to their community and their local economy.
As the Governor sat with the Ramirez’s for a home-cooked meal prepared by the family, he was able to hear from the family first-hand how the lack of immigration reform has personally impacted them, and left their children living in fear due to their mom and dad’s legal status.
“I live in constant fear of coming home from school and not being able to see my family, not knowing if I’m ever going to see them again,” Abigail, the family’s U.S. citizen child, told O’Malley.
The DAPA Dinner with Governor O’Malley and the Ramirez family was organized by the Workers Defense in Action PAC, with assistance from America’s Voice, United We Dream Action and the Center for Community Change Action/Fair Immigration Reform Movement, and the groups have extended invitations to all 2016 Presidential candidates and members of Congress.
If you are interested in hosting a DAPA Dinner, please click here for more information.
