High-Profile DREAMer Activist To Endorse Martin O’Malley: “His campaign’s heart beats with ours,”

[bigtree]

Gaby Pacheco, one of the original DREAMer activists who rose to prominence during the fight for the DREAM Act, is endorsing him. “His campaign’s heart beats with ours,” she will say in a Univision.com op-ed.


In an op-ed that will run on Univision.com provided to BuzzFeed News ahead of its publication, Pacheco said she first noticed that O’Malley spoke so much about immigration, then that he confronted “the hateful Sheriff Joe Arpaio” and later broke bread with undocumented immigrants.

She opens the piece with questions about O’Malley’s actions that opened the eyes of activists and members of the Hispanic community.

“Why does he tweet in Spanish so that my parents can be engaged in conversation?” Pacheco writes. “Why does he take the 10 seconds given to him at a debate to talk about our fellow citizens on the island of Puerto Rico when he knows their votes, unjustly, don’t count.”

Pacheco adds that in watching O’Malley since 2011, “his failures and triumphs” as mayor and governor of Maryland “humbled” him and writes of O’Malley’s public clash with the Obama administration on the treatment of unaccompanied minors from Central America in the summer of 2014, invoking Hillary Clinton’s response that most of the minors should ultimately be sent back.

“I was there when immigrant advocates e-mailed each other in disbelief that someone would challenge both the President and the Secretary of State on how we were treating refugee children,” she writes. “We hadn’t seen anything like it.”

Pacheco also writes that she’s supporting O’Malley “because if it wasn’t for him, there would be no discussion of immigration in the Democratic Party.”

Pacheco rose to prominence when she took part in the “trail of dreams” — a 4-month walk from Miami to Washington D.C. to bring attention to the plight of undocumented immigrants.

She later played a key role in helping advocates secure Obama’s first immigration executive action, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in 2012, leveraging her relationship with Sen. Marco Rubio who was working on a competing plan and repeatedly meeting with the White House to discuss the prospects of the policy.

Because Pacheco has worked closely with Republicans, Democrats have at times whispered that she supports them or will one day endorse a Republican.

But now, she supports O’Malley.

“His campaign’s heart beats with ours,” she said.


http://www.buzzfeed.com/adriancarrasquillo/high-profile-dreamer-activist-to-endorse-martin-omalley-ahea#.ta03wyWgL

[FSogol]

1. K & R. n/t

[elleng]

2. “His campaign’s heart beats with ours,” she said.

[Sheepshank]

3. I really had hoped that his campaign would gain traction.

I hope this doesn't turn him off for another run in 8 years or so.

[elleng]

4. 'She writes of O’Malley’s public clash with the Obama administration

on the treatment of unaccompanied minors from Central America in the summer of 2014, invoking Hillary Clinton’s response that most of the minors should ultimately be sent back.'

[askew]

5. This is huge news.

He also picked up 2 big Latino endorsements the other day & was endorsed by the largest Latino newspaper in Iowa.

Pacheco is right that without O'Malley immigration wouldn't be talked about at all in the Dem Party nomination fight. He pushed both Hillary and Bernie to the left with his platform and outspoken advocacy on immigration and refugee issues.

On a side note, he also picked up the following endorsments in Iowa in the past few days:
Bowman, State Senator

Tom Hockensmith, Polk County Supervisor

Sandy Dockendorff, Des Moines County Democratic Chair

Jordan Pope, Decatur County Chair, the youngest county chair in Iowa

Matt Bemrich, Fort Dodge Mayor

Denise Dolan, Dubuque County Auditor

Jim Schroeder, Mayor of Lost Nation

Grant Veeder, Black Hawk County Auditor

Doug Bailey, County Supervisor

Juanita Zavala, Ottumwa School Board Member

Eric Van Lanker, County Auditor

Bob Schroeder, Allamakee County Dems Vice Chair and Former Postville City Councilor

Pat Harney, Johnson County Supervisor

Ben Stanford, Quasqueton City Council Member

Roy Shwickerath, Floyd County Supervisor

Sue Keninger, Hardin County Dems Chair

Paulette Hammer, Winnebago County Dems Chair

Richard Gruber , Pocahontas Mayor and County Chair

Jeanine Wichman, Floyd County Democratic Chair

Bob Thomas, Appanoose County Democratic Chair

Gayle Tellin, Fayette County Dems Chair

Tim Tracy, Carroll County Chair

Eric Chase, Buena Vista County Dems Vice Chair

Jeremy Brigham, Executive Director of Iowan's For Gun Safety

Patricia Ritchie, Combat veteran, Domestic Violence Advocate, President of South West Latino Association

Roberta Rosheim, Secretary of the Jackson County Democrats

Kay Ciha, Treasurer, Washington County Democrats

Jean-Marie Hall, Former Clayton County Dems Chair

Teresa Meyer, Iowa House Candidate District 63 and Former Bremer County Dems Chair

Steven Erickson, Former Emmet County Chair

Eric Schmitt, Former Floyd County Chair

Lyle Otte, Former Winneshiek County Chair

Greg Simpson, Former County Chair

Peggy Liautaud, Buena Vista County Secretary

[elleng]

7. Si se Puede!

[askew]

9. Yep, I am hoping that we are in for a pleasant surprise from O'Malley on Monday night.

[elleng]

6. 'invoking Hillary Clinton’s response that most of the minors should ultimately be sent back.'

[elleng]

8. 'if it wasn’t for him, there would be no discussion of immigration in the Democratic Party.”

[askew]

10. Absolutely true. He has pushed the other 2 candidates to the left on immigration

And forced them to talk about it to non-Latino audiences.

[elleng]

11. Right. It's shameful that they haven't done it,

but maybe understandable, politics being what it is, I guess.

[bigtree]

12. in the debates

...immigration has barely prompted questions or mention. In the last debate, it wasn't even raised by the moderators.

Hell, even republicans had a spirited (if demagogic) debate on the issue.

O'Malley has also leveraged this primary to help propel several issues into the national debate: Making Wall Street reform a centerpiece of his campaign; standing firm on gun safety reform; and taking a moonshot stance on renewable energy, for a few examples.

[askew]

13. Yep, and O'Malley's insistence on talking about immigration in the debates when it is not

The topic of discussion has been noticed in Latino media. He's getting a lot of credit for being outspoken. Let's hope that translates into support in Iowa and Nevada.