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Presidential Candidate Martin O’Malley To Break Bread With Immigrant Family Today. Will Other Candidates Follow?

by America’s Voice Online on

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Today, a DAPA family is set to break bread with Democratic Presidential candidate Martin O’Malley in a first-ever “DAPA Dinner,” with advocates hoping today’s event in Austin, Texas becomes just the first of many dinners with immigrant families and 2016 contenders from both parties.

Organizers of the “DAPA Dinners” campaign have said they want the presidential hopefuls to “see for yourself how they are just like other American families,” and O’Malley’s dinner with the Ramirez family today in Texas is thought to be the first instance of a Presidential candidate visiting with a family headed by an undocumented immigrant.

The Ramirez family has lived in Central Texas for years, and the Ramirez children attend the University of Texas, or have graduated from there. The family’s dad works in a recycling center, and Mrs. Ramirez is a stay-at-home mom and caretaker of the family. They are active members of their community, both through their church and with Workers Defense in Action PAC.

The groups organizing the dinners — including Workers Defense in Action PAC, America’s Voice, United We Dream Action, the Center for Community Change Action, and Fair Immigration Reform Movement — are hoping other 2016 Presidential candidates from both parties also take this unique opportunity to meet with immigrant and mixed-status families directly impacted by the lawsuit blocking implementation of DAPA and expanded DACA.

“Currently, only Carly Fiorina’s campaign has declined the offer unequivocally,” said a statement from the dinner’s organizers.