Rosa DeLauro's Guests for Trump's Address to Congress Have Milford Connection

MILFORD, CT — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) hosted Fadi Kassar as her guest for President Trump’s first address to a Joint Session of Congress last night.

Earlier this month, DeLauro worked to reunite Fadi and his family after his wife and two daughters were stopped from entering the United States due to President Trump’s executive order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries. Also present in D.C. was Sammer Karout, who is Kassar's brother-in-law and who owns the Milford-based Olive Tree Restaurant on Bridgeport Avenue, which is next door to his newly opened Hookah Lounge. The Milford community came together to help Kassar reunite with his family in Milford.

“President Trump’s executive order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim majority countries is not just unconstitutional, it is anti-American. And while the President continues to spread harmful rhetoric about refugees and stoke xenophobic emotions, his words and actions have a very real impact on people’s lives,” said DeLauro in a prepared statement released by her office. “Earlier this year, Fadi Kassar experienced firsthand the devastating effects of President Trump’s ban on Muslim immigrants and refugees. When his wife and two daughters were stopped from traveling to the U.S., Fadi fought relentlessly for them to be reunited on American soil.

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“When President Trump steps in the House chamber to deliver his address, I want him to know that Fadi and countless other people like him are striving to live the American Dream,” continued DeLauro in her statement. “Fadi, like so many refugees before him, came to the U.S. to give his children the opportunity to grow up in a free and safe society. As the President considers a new executive order on immigrants and refugees, I hope that he will recognize the struggles that many refugees face and the ways in which families like the Kassars make our nation a richer place.”

Earlier this month, DeLauro and her staff worked diligently to reunite the Kassar family on American soil, which included working with the Kassar family’s attorney, the National Visa Center, the United States Embassy in Amman, Jordan, the Customs and Border Patrol offices in Washington, DC and New York, and the U.S. Department State, according to a news release by DeLauro's office. DeLauro has repeatedly called on President Trump to end his attacks on immigrants and refugees, the statement concluded.

Image via Rosa DeLauro's Twitter page