Adriano Espaillat: “I thank my colleagues for joining me here today. I would like to reiterate the important message that we are here to…”

“I thank my colleagues for joining me here today. I would like to reiterate the important message that we are here to support Dreamers. This is not impossible, Madam Speaker. In 2002, while I was a Member of the New York State Assembly, the lower house of the New York State Legislature, we passed instate tuition allowing undocumented college students the ability to pay instate tuition. We did that with a Republican Governor and with a Republican-led Senate. Just last year, New York State again passed the Jose Peralta Dream Act. So it could be done, Madam Speaker. Just recently, I was speaking to a group of Dreamers and advocates in Battery Park, New York, having the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop to our rally. I told them to be cognizant of what they are doing because, very often, those who write history, those who write the chapters and the annals of history, are not aware that they are doing it. I asked them to pay close attention to what they were doing because they are, in fact, the protagonists. They are the leaders of this movement. When you see their faces, and you see what they want to do for our country, it is almost impossible to say no to them. I told them to be very cognizant of their effort because, in fact, they are an army of goodwill. They may not have weapons in their hands, and they may not wear military gear, but they are an army of goodwill that I think is fighting every day for the soul of America.…”