Kathy Tran Defies Trump in New Mailer by Standing Up as Proud Refugee

Mailer released as 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond deliberates on Trump’s Muslim ban

SPRINGFIELD, Va. – While two federal appellate courts, including the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, deliberate on President Trump’s revised Muslim ban, Kathy Tran, Democratic candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates, is sending a powerful message to voters: Trump’s discriminatory executive orders are un-American. 

The mailer leads with a 1979 photo of a seven-month-old Kathy Tran in the arms of her mother, Thu Tran, taken during processing at the Pulau Bidong refugee camp in Malaysia. Tran makes clear what this nation means to her and what is at stake if we close our doors to refugees, declaring, “When America welcomed my family, it literally saved my life.”

On the inside of the bifold, Tran details her family’s past. “As a refugee from Vietnam, Kathy Tran saw America at its best,” the piece begins. “Kathy Tran’s family left for America from Vietnam as ‘boat people’ in 1979. Kathy was just an infant during the trip, and grew so sick that her family feared she would actually die at sea. Fortunately, she recovered and her family literally lived the American Dream.”

The mailer continues by explaining how the United States welcoming Tran as a refugee has informed her entire life, including her run for the Virginia House of Delegates’ 42nd District, in the Fairfax County suburbs of Washington, D.C. “Kathy has helped other working families in search of opportunity build a better future,” the piece explains, citing her 12-year service at the U.S. Department of Labor, where she shaped national workforce development policies that helped millions of families achieve the American Dream. Tran went on to work at the National Immigration Forum, one of the nation’s leading immigration advocacy organizations, where she pushed for programs that prepare immigrants in the workforce to reach their full career potential.

Tran will continue her lifelong advocacy for working families in the Virginia House of Delegates by fighting for progressive values, like protecting women’s access to health care, investing in our public schools to ensure all of our children receive a world-class education, expanding access to quality, affordable health care, including by expanding Medicaid in Virginia, and resisting the Trump agenda at the state level. 

Voters in Virginia’s 42nd House District will receive the mailer this week. 

###

Kathy Tran and her family risked everything to come to the United States as refugees in search of the American Dream. A workforce development expert and career public servant, Kathy has devoted her entire career to fighting for working families, including at the U.S. Department of Labor and the National Immigration Forum. As a mom of four and president of her local PTA, she is deeply committed to investing in our schools to ensure all of our kids receive a world-class education. Kathy will never back down from fighting for our progressive values, like defending women’s access to health care, expanding Medicaid, advancing common-sense gun violence prevention measures, and protecting our environment.