Rep. Veasey Invites DFW Metroplex DREAMer to Historic Papal Address

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Marc Veasey, TX-33, announced that Lisette Moreno of the North Texas Dream Team will join him as his guest in the House gallery when Pope Francis addresses Congress in a joint-session on Thursday, September 24, 2015. Pope Francis has spoken repeatedly on the global community's need to face the ‘moral challenge of migration' and Moreno is an avid advocate for the undocumented immigrant community in Texas and beyond.

Lisette Moreno arrived in Texas as a child and was as one of the first DREAMers to testify in front of the Texas Legislature during the creation of the Texas DREAM Act. The act extended in-state tuition benefits for non-citizens who lived in Texas and enabled her to pursue two degrees; a bachelor's in international business from UT-Arlington, and a bachelor's in fashion design from Texas Women's University. Today, she is one of Texas' thousands of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and continues to be an outspoken supporter of comprehensive immigration reform.

"I was happy to extend West Lawn tickets to DFW residents, so they could take part in the Pope's historic visit to Washington D.C. and I am honored to have Lisette join me in the gallery. Her life's work embodies the Pope's spirit of mercy and fraternity to the immigrant community. In a 2013 message, Pope Francis reiterated that ‘migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity. They are children, women, and men who leave or who are forced to leave their homes for various reasons, who share a legitimate desire for knowing and having, but above all for being more.' Lisette is a Texas leader working to ensure that those confined to the shadows of our society have the opportunity to ‘be more'. I am eager to have Lisette join me as we all learn his Holiness' thoughts on Congress' role in solving one of the gravest moral crises our country faces today," Congressman Veasey said.

"Growing up in an undocumented family in the Roman Catholic Faith, I had always turned to prayer to keep my family together and not separated. Being able to see Pope Francis address Congress, has been something I have been praying for and am grateful to have this opportunity as a Catholic lay person. Many of our Representatives in D.C. are Catholic and just as Jesus did are called to help others. Congressman Veasey and his staff have been accessible to the immigrant community at large by having an open door policy to assist them in matters relating to their struggles and battles as immigrants. I trust and have faith, that the Pope's message can help unite our country's leaders – after all we are the United States of America, not the divided states." Lisette Moreno said.