Political Quotes

“I thank Congressman Castro for his great leadership on this issue. I want to take a moment to talk about the story of Mariana Castro. Mariana is going to be interning for us this year, and she is an ambitious young DREAMer from Florida. In 2005, Mariana left Lima, Peru, at the age of 10 with her mother, leaving her father and brothers behind for a safer life. She was in the high school IB program. Not until the 10th grade did she realize that regardless of her excellent grades and involvement in hundreds of hours of community service, her undocumented status would be a hurdle to pursuing higher education. A few months before graduation, DACA--Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals--was a miracle. She would now be able to provide for her family, drive, and no longer live in the shadows. Mariana enrolled in the University of Florida, but faced severe financial difficulties due to her status. As her only way to higher education, she temporarily paused her education and fought for tuition equity in the State of Florida. I had the honor of having a role in that, having been in the Florida Senate at the time when we passed instate tuition along with a bill that I had that admitted DREAMers into The Florida Bar. This would spark her passion for social justice. Throughout her time at UF, she utilized her voice to speak for immigrant rights and human rights by taking several leadership positions within Chispas, the only student-led immigrant advocacy organization at UF.…”