Jake was born and raised in the Massachusetts Fourth Congressional District he now represents, the son of a surgeon and a scientist. They taught him the values of curiosity and integrity. He and his older brother and sister grew up in the Jewish faith tradition and attended the Newton Public Schools. His 2nd-grade teacher saw he loved to read and gave him books on United States history. He was hooked.
Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. Jake’s great-grandfather, a Russian Jew, fled the pogroms and built a small business in Massachusetts. From those refugee roots, his granddaughter, Jake’s mother, became the first female CEO of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Today, the future first Hispanic CEO of the Dana-Farber may be in a cage at the Mexican border. America’s promise is that the condition of your birth should not determine the outcome of your life. We fail that promise when we deprive immigrants of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.