Hello,

 

Sí se puede. 

 

In 2017, the Trump administration made a deeply craven political calculation to rescind DACA and throw into chaos the futures of nearly 800,000 DREAMers, including about 7,400 in my district, California’s 21st.  

 

I ran for Congress in 2018 to help people, and as the son of two immigrants who thrived in America, there are few moments I’m more proud of this year, my first year in Congress, than the night of June 4. 

 

We’d worked on H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act, for months. Young people whose futures were at stake lobbied for the right to stay in and continue to contribute to the fabric of the only country they’d ever known as home. And late that summer evening, with DREAMers from my district and from across the country watching from the gallery with tears in their eyes, we passed the bill to keep them here. 

 

Chants of “Sí se puede!” broke out in the gallery, and quickly spread to my colleagues and me on the House floor. We can and we did, because the 116th Congress is the most diverse in history -- 13% of us are immigrants or children of immigrants, and we know exactly how important the American dream is.

 

But we have to do better. 

 

Six months later, the Senate has failed to act on H.R. 6 -- and the Trump administration is pushing the Supreme Court to let them move forward with upending the lives of these young people. In 2020, we need to elect even more progressive leaders to serve in Washington and ensure that we finish what we started.

 

And that’s why I’m writing you today.  

 

The ASPIRE team is working tirelessly to elect progressive candidates of color in 2020, but donations have slowed over the holidays. ASPIRE’s candidates only have a few hours left to go before their last quarterly FEC filing deadline of 2019, and we’re short of where we need to be to provide them with critical early support for their campaigns.

 

I’m asking you personally to join me in supporting ASPIRE’s efforts now so we can elect new leaders in 2020 who will put the lives of our children ahead of scoring political points on the backs of some of the most vulnerable.

 

Here’s the link to give to elect more progressive people of color: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/aspirepac-nd

 

So glad to have you on this team,

TJ