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Senator Dick Durbin Becomes First Member Of The Senate To Share A Meal With DAPA Family

by Gabe Ortiz on

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One day after the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s historic DAPA and expanded DACA announcement, immigration champion Senator Dick Durbin became the first sitting member of the United States Senate to share a meal with a DAPA-eligible family.

As part of the “DAPA Dinner” campaign, Senator Durbin sat down for lunch with the Ramirez family of Chicago, consisting of DAPA-eligible parents Maria and Jose, four US citizen children, and one DACA recipient daughter.

The family has lived in the United States since 1992, with Maria working as a stay-at-home mom and Jose in a factory. During the past few years, Maria has become involved with the Resurrection Project through the Parent Mentorship program, where she volunteers to help parents get involved in their children’s education.

She further works to improve her community and neighborhood by serving on the board of her local park district, as well.

This latest “DAPA Dinner” with Senator Durbin and the Ramirez family is part of a new initiative inviting all 2016 candidates and members of Congress to break bread with an immigrant family, giving these families an opportunity to discuss how their lives have been impacted by the partisan lawsuit blocking the implementation of DAPA and expanded DACA.

The campaign launched with a historic meal earlier this month with Democratic Presidential candidate Martin O’Malley and the DAPA-eligible Ramirez family from Austin, Texas. And last week, Arizona’s Rep. Ruben Gallego joined the Solorio family of Phoenix to hear first-hand how our nation’s broken immigration policies have affected families.