tags: , , , , , , Blog

Elected Officials in California and Texas Join The Dreamer Dinners Campaign to Help Protect DACA Program

by on

Share This:

Dreamer Dinners have arrived in Texas and California, with Congressman Joaquin Castro, Congressman Jimmy Gomez, Los Angeles City Councilmember Gil Cedillo, and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti all breaking bread with Dreamers during the 5th Anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Yesterday, in the midst of a nationwide mobilization organized by United We Dream, immigrants and their allies took to the streets to demand the Trump Administration keeps the DACA program in place, a group of Dreamers in Texas and California joined the campaign to defend DACA and share how they have benefited from the DACA program with their local elected officials.

In San Antonio, Texas, Congressman Castro sat down at a local restaurant to hear the stories and testimonies of several Dreamers. Seven Flores, a Dreamer who arrived to the United States when he was 9-years-old and who has attended high school and college within the state told Congressman Castro what losing DACA would mean to him:

“If the program ends, we would go back to the shadows.. thinking that we could be deported, and lose everything we’ve been fighting for over the years,”

Later that afternoon, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti hosted a Dreamer Dinner at City Hall where he, Congressman Jimmy Lopez, and Councilman Gil Cedillo, listened to the personal stories of Dreamers across Los Angeles.

Congressman Joaquin Castro, Congressman Jimmy Gomez, Los Angeles City Councilmember Gil Cedillo, and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti the latest elected officials to join the Dreamers Dinners Campaign to reaffirm their commitment to defend the DACA program and protect Dreamers from Donald Trump’s Deportation Force.

Previous Dreamer Dinners were attended by Councilwoman Liz Brown from Columbus, Ohio and Florida State Senator Jose Javier Rodriguez – both of whom took time off their schedules to join Dreamers and called on President Donald Trump to keep the DACA program in place.

A Dreamer Dinners inspired event was also hosted by CASA and Democratic Whip of the U.S. House of Representatives, Steny Hoyer. During a roundtable event alongside Dreamers that was broadcasted on C-SPAN, Congressman Hoyer joined Dreamers to talk about the importance of preserving the DACA and TPS programs.

America’s Voice Dreamer Dinners are not slowing down! Dreamers and their allies are planning additional dinners in Florida and California to help protect the DACA program.

You too can help protect the DACA program by hosting a Dreamer Dinner in your community! Click here to get started.

View some of the pictures from our Dreamer Dinner with Congressman Joaquin Castro, Congressman Jimmy Gomez, Los Angeles City Councilmember Gil Cedillo, and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti below: