Congressman Jimmy Panetta hosted a DREAMer from the Central Coast at President Trump’s state of the union address given Tuesday night. Panetta, D-California, represents San Benito County.
The following is the statement from Panetta:
Congressman Jimmy Panetta (CA-20) has invited Adriana, a DREAMer living, working, and studying on the central coast of California, as his guest to tomorrow’s State of the Union speech by President Donald Trump.
Adriana was brought to the United States by her parents when she was seven years old. They settled on the central coast of California, where Adriana was raised and educated. She currently attends community college and plans to go to law school. Adriana has been enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program since 2012, which protects her from deportation and allows her to study and work in the United States.
“This is my country. I pay my taxes, I work, and I go to school. I stand for the national anthem and I know the Pledge of Allegiance,” Adriana said. “I have faith in my elected officials to help me find options to stay in the United States. I don’t want the termination of DACA to be the termination of my progress.”
Congressman Panetta met Adriana in September 2017, when he hosted a roundtable on DACA in response to the announcement by the Trump Administration to end the DACA program.
“Her courage to share her story and her commitment to contribute to our community and country needs to be heard by those in Washington, D.C.,” said Congressman Panetta. “Congress has a responsibility to pass a permanent legislative solution so that Adriana and the other DREAMers living in the United States can continue to give back to our country. I am proud to have Adriana as my guest at the State of the Union to show the President and my colleagues in Congress why we must continue to fight to protect people, like Adriana, who are here to fulfill the American Dream.”
