Tyrell was part of an emotional news conference inside the Capitol on Tuesday, where he joined a dozen lawmakers and some three dozen other individuals affected by gun violence who will be in the audience Tuesday night, including the parents of a girl killed in Newtown, Conn., the family of a girl killed in Chicago only days after performing in Obama’s inaugural parade, and the mother of a student killed in the Virginia Tech shooting.
Meanwhile, five undocumented immigrants will join first lady Michelle Obama and lawmakers, including Sen. Mark Warner (D) of Virginia and Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D) of Illinois.
For Julieta Garibay, an advocate and undocumented immigrant, being able to sit before the president reminded her of just how far those without legal status have come.
Ms. Garibay, who will be the guest of Rep. Marc Veasey (D) of Texas, was talking to a friend hours before the speech and recalled joining the movement in support of the DREAM Act – which would allow the children of undocumented immigrants a special path to legal status – eight years ago, “when it was very scary to even share my story because it wasn’t normal to say ‘I’m undocumented and unafraid,’ ” Garibay says. “And [now] I’m thinking, ‘I’m going to be sitting next to the very people who vote and who make immigration reform possible.’”
