February 04, 2020

Rep. Gallego Announces State of the Union Guest: Teacher and DACA Recipient Vanessa Mendez

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-07), First Vice Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, announced his guest to this year's State of the Union address: Vanessa Mendez, a second grade teacher at Papago Elementary School. She is one of more than 25,000 Arizonans who have temporary legal status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Rep. Gallego issued the following statement:

"Vanessa's passion for educating children in our community and her commitment to giving back is an inspiration. I'm honored that she will be joining me at this year's State of the Union. DREAMers like Vanessa across Arizona and throughout the country are serving others and making a positive difference, despite uncertainty and fear brought on by the Trump administration's cruel immigration tactics. I hope Vanessa's attendance will help inspire President Trump and Republicans to stop using DREAMers as political pawns and allow these young aspiring Americans to remain permanently in the country they call home."

###