re: Report: Dem-Invited Immigrants UPDATE: Pelosi says 'keep calm'

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Guest List: Who Members of Congress Are Taking to Trump’s Address

President Donald Trump will hold his first joint session address to Congress on Tuesday and every member is able to bring a guest to sit in the gallery.

Oftentimes, those invited are a part of what is driving the news of the day.

Notable themes this year have been immigration, the 2010 health care law, police-community relations, gun issues and education.
Here are the some of the people who are invited:

Immigration
Minister at ICE roundup church: Democratic Sen. Mark Warner is taking Reverend Keary Kincannon, who is a minister at Fairfax County’s Rising Hope Mission Church. On Feb. 15, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested a group of undocumented immigrants as they were leaving the church’s overnight shelter program. Kincannon focuses his ministry around the homeless and those in need.

Muslim doctor: Democratic Rep. Jim Langevin of Rhode Island is taking Ehsun Mirza, a critical care doctor and immigrant from Pakistan. Langevin is leading an effort among his Democratic colleagues in the House to invite guests who have, despite discrimination, made positive impacts on their communities, according to his news release. Mirza immigrated to the U.S. for his residency training after medical school and now is a citizen who works in internal medicine, nephrology, hypertension and critical care.

Immigration attorney: Democratic Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez of Illinois is taking Fidaa Rashid, an immigration attorney in Chicago who focuses on Middle East clients. Her parents were refugees from Gaza in the Palestinian territories. “I want Trump to see the face of a woman, the face of a Muslim, and the face of someone whose family has enriched and contributed to this country despite starting out as refugees,” Gutiérrez said in a news release.

Muslim interfaith leader: Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington is taking a Aneelah Afzali, who is the executive director of the American Muslim Empowerment Network, an initiative of the Redmond-based Muslim Association of Puget Sound. She is an activist and interfaith leader.

Iranian graduate student: Democratic Rep. Judy Chu of California is taking Sara Yarjani, a 35-year-old Iranian graduate student who is studying at the California Institute for Human Science in Encinitas. She is a permanent resident of Austria who resides in the U.S. on a student visa. On Jan. 27, Yarjani was held at the Los Angeles International Airport for 23 hours and sent back to Vienna, where she was visiting family. She was able to return to the U.S. eight days later.

Hate crime victim: Democratic Rep. Joseph Crowley of New York is taking Sarker Haque, a business owner in Queens who was the victim of an anti-Muslim hate crime. Haque immigrated from Bangladesh 30 years ago and is the proprietor of a convenience store. In 2015, he was beaten by an attacker claiming he wanted to “kill Muslims,” according to Crowley’s news release.

Children of an immigrant: Democratic Reps. Ruben Gallego and Raul Grijalva of Arizona have invited Angel and Jaqueline Garcia de Rayos, the children of Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos. Their mother voluntarily met with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and was deported, according to their news release.

Muslim community voice: Democratic Rep. Bill Foster of Illinois is taking Samia Abdul-Qadir, a high school student who participated in one of Foster’s community discussions on the effect Trump’s travel ban has had on the local Muslim community and the fear it provoked. Abdul-Qadir was an outspoken voice and Foster was impressed by her courage and conviction, according to his news release.

Green card holder: Democratic Rep. Norma J. Torres of California is taking Areej Ali, a Sudanese-born green card holder living in California. Ali was recently was visiting Sudan for the first time in more than 20 years to attend her sister’s wedding and prohibited from boarding a flight back to the U.S. Once she arrived at the Los Angeles International Airport, she was detained. Ali immigrated to the U.S. in 1993.

Sister of Iraqi Interpreter: Democratic Rep. Gerald E. Connolly of Virginia is taking Farah Alkhafaji, the sister of an Iraqi interpreter initially refused entry into the U.S. due to Trump’s immigration executive order. Her husband was killed for working with the U.S. military, according to Connolly’s news release. In January, she passed her U.S. citizenship test.

DACA beneficiary: Democratic Rep. Jared Polis will be attending with Oscar Juarez-Luna, a DACA holder whose family moved from Mexico to the United States when he was a child. “Oscar and other aspiring American DREAMers represent what hold dear in the United States — a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. We must show President Trump how aspiring Americans make us greater — if only we let them,” Polis said in a statement.

Muslim community leader: Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon is taking Wajdi Said, who is the president and co-founder of the Muslim Educational Trust. He is also co-founder of the Oregon Coalition for Muslim Values, the Arab-Jewish-Muslim Dialogue, the Institute for Christian/Muslim Understanding and the Interfaith Council of Greater Portland.

Former State Department official: Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier of California is taking Tom Countryman, the former acting under secretary of state for arms control and international security. He was recalled from overseas travel and dismissed without explanation in January, according to Speier's press release.

Syrian refugee: Democratic Rep. Marc Veasey of Texas is taking Bothina Matar, a Syrian refugee who resettled with her family in the U.S. in 2015. Before the speech, Veasey is hosting a press conference with her at 3 p.m. to discuss Trump's refugee policies.

DACA recipient: Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris of California is taking Yuriana Aguilar, a DACA holder and instructor in the Department of Physiology & Biophysics, at Rush Medical College in Chicago. He attended the University of California at Merced and her research focuses on the human heart.

DACA recipient: Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York is taking Martin Batalla Vidal, a DACA recipient. He will join other House Democrats bringing guests representing diversity for a press conference at 1 p.m. before the speech.

DREAMer: Democratic Sen. Richard J. Durbin is taking Illinois DREAMer Aaima Sayed. Aaima has temporary legal status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and is a third-year medical student at the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University Chicago. She was brought to the U.S. from Pakistan at 3 years old.

Iraqi immigrant: Democratic Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez of New York is taking Hameed Darweesh, a recent Iraqi Immigrant. Darweesh, who worked as a translator for U.S. forces and aid agencies in Iraq, was detained in January at John F. Kennedy airport. He was released after intervention from Velázquez and Nadler, according to the congresswoman's press release.

DREAMer: Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto is taking Astrid Silva, a DREAMer

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Astrid Silva

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