Adriano Espaillat

“I am proof of the American Dream, having first come to this country with my family at the age of 9 years old, someone who was undocumented, and now as the first Dominican-American member of Congress,” Congressman Adriano Espaillat, who represents  New York's 13th congressional district, said in a 2017 interview with “Affinity Magazine.” Before he was elected to the House of Representatives in 2016, Espaillat served as a member of the New York State Senate and as a member of the New York State Assembly. In Washington, he currently serves as a member of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and the House Select Committee on Small Business. He is a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and serves in a leadership role as CHC Freshman Representative to the Democratic Caucus. He recently told “National Geographic” - “There's still a silver lining even in dark times that opportunity is here for everybody. My presence in the U.S. Congress, I think, establishes that, and is a resounding ‘yes!’ to that lady in the harbor there that adorns New York City.” Updated July 2018