tags: , , , , , , , Blog

Nevada Congressional Candidates Sen. Ruben Kihuen and Jacky Rosen Break Bread With DAPA Families

by Gabe Ortiz on

Share This:

On Friday, mixed-status immigrant families and Nevada Congressional candidates Sen. Ruben Kihuen and Jacky Rosen broke bread in Las Vegas and discussed the issue that has become a main focus of the 2016 election: immigration.

The two families — along with 48,000 other immigrant families in the state of Nevada — suffered a tremendous blow following the Supreme Court’s tie in the lawsuit blocking implementation of DAPA and expanded DACA.

With DAPA and expanded DACA, members of the Reyes and Cadena families could have applied for permission to work legally, gain driver’s licenses, and live free from the threat of deportation.

The Reyes’ family has been in the country for 27 years. Juanita Reyes is a self-employed, single mother of seven. One of her children died due to a lack of health insurance because of his immigration status, another one is currently a US resident, and the other five are American citizens.

The Cadena family is also a mixed status family. The mother would have qualified for DAPA. The daughter, Miriam, is a DACA recipient and the main provider for the whole family who decided to work as a canvasser to make sure her family is represented in this election.

During the lunch, these families had a chance to discuss the urgent need for a permanent solution to our broken immigration system face-to-face with Congressional candidates.

“I want you to know that I am an immigrant too, and I will fight for you in Congress,” said Sen. Kihuen, who was born in Mexico and is currently a member of the Nevada State Senate.

Throughout the 2016 election, mixed-status immigrant families from all over the country have been able to sit down with their elected officials and candidates as part of the “DAPA Dinners” campaign, including Nevada US Senate candidate Catherine Cortez Masto last month.

Previous DAPA Dinner attendees include a range of Democrats across the country, including: Secretary Hillary Clinton; Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (NV); Senators Dick Durbin (IL), Richard Blumenthal (CT), and Tim Kaine (VA); former Governor Martin O’Malley (MD); Representatives Ruben Gallego (AZ), Bill Foster (IL), Don Beyer (VA), and Gerry Connolly (VA); Senate candidate Ted Strickland (OH); State Senator Darren Soto (FL); Shadow Senators Michael Brown (DC) and Paul Strauss (DC); Shadow Representative Franklin Garcia (DC); and Councilmembers Anita Bonds (DC) and Brianne Nadeau (DC). Last year, Senator Bernie Sanders (VT) also sat down with DAPA-eligible families.