Dick Durbin Tells His Immigration Story: My Mother ‘Was the First DREAMer in My Family... That’s America’s Story’

EXCERPT:

DURBIN: "I come to this with some prejudice. My mother was an immigrant to this country. She was brought here at the age of two. She was the first DREAMer in my family, and she was brought here from Lithuania, where she was born. Her mother brought her to this country, didn’t speak English, but brought her three kids here in the hopes that they could find an opportunity they couldn’t find back in Lithuania. For them the land of opportunity was a city called East St. Louis, Illinois, which is where I was born and I grew up. It offered immigrants a lot of tough jobs, but opportunities to maybe create a better life for their kids. And when it came to this kid, my mom and her family gave me a chance to serve in the United States Senate. That’s my story. That’s my family’s story. But that’s America’s story. Time and again that’s America’s story. My grandfather didn’t come here with any extraordinary skills. He came here with a strong back and a determination to work and feed his family. And he did it. My grandmother, the same. That’s the story of this country."