Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) was so moved by the story of Jorge Garcia, a 39-year-old man deported to Mexico this week after living most of his life in the U.S., that she plans to bring his wife Cindy Garcia as her plus-one guest to the 2018 State of the Union address.

“This week, America watched in horror as Jorge Garcia, a father of two and husband to an American citizen, who was brought to this country at 10 years old and has never received so much as a traffic ticket, was torn from his family and the only home he knows,” Dingell said in a statement on Thursday.

“Jorge’s wife Cindy has shown incredible resilience and courage in the face of these impossible circumstances,” Dingell continued. “I am honored that she will join me at the State of the Union to be a voice for the hundreds of thousands of aspiring Americans who are part of the fabric of our communities, and who deserve a pathway to legal status in the country they call home.”

Jorge Garcia, 39, of Lincoln Park, Michigan, hugs his wife, Cindy Garcia, and their two children Jan. 15, 2018, at Detroit Metro Airport moments before being forced to board a flight to Mexico. (Photo: NIRAJ WARIKOO/DETROIT FREE PRESS/USA TODAY SPORTS IMAGES)

Garcia, who lived with his family in the Detroit area, received temporary extensions during President Barack Obama’s administration that allowed him to avert a deportation order from 2009, according to the Detroit Free Press. Immigration and Customs Enforcement renewed the order in November. Dingell said she asked ICE to extend the order until Jan. 15, allowing Garcia to spend the holidays with his family.

Garcia’s attorney, Mayra Miles, is petitioning to reunite him with his family, she told HuffPost. The process typically takes about a year, although Garcia may encounter difficulties because he didn’t leave the U.S. voluntarily.

A handful of House Democrats, including Reps. Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), John Lewis (Ga.), Frederica Wilson (Fla.) and Maxine Waters (Calif.) said they’re planning to skip the State of the Union.

Also on HuffPost

April 2015

At an event hosted by Texas Patriots PAC: “Everything’s coming across the border: the illegals, the cars, the whole thing. It’s like a big mess. Blah. It’s like vomit.”

June 2015

At a speech announcing his campaign: "When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

August 2015

On NBC's "Meet the Press": “We’re going to keep the families together, we have to keep the families together, but they have to go."

September 2015

On CBS's "60 Minutes": “We’re rounding ‘em up in a very humane way, in a very nice way. And they’re going to be happy because they want to be legalized. And, by the way, I know it doesn’t sound nice. But not everything is nice.”

November 2015

On MSNBC's "Morning Joe": “You are going to have a deportation force, and you are going to do it humanely."

February 2016

At a GOP primary debate: “We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. They will come back ― some will come back, the best, through a process.”

March 2016

Story continues

At a press conference when asked if he would consider allowing undocumented immigrants to stay: "We either have a country or we don’t. We either have a country or we don’t. We have borders or we don’t have borders. And at this moment, the answer is absolutely not.”

April 2016

At an event hosted by NBC's "Today Show": “They’re going to go, and we’re going to create a path where we can get them into this country legally, OK? But it has to be done legally. ... They’re going to go, and then come back and come back legally.”

July 2016

At the Republican National Convention: "Tonight, I want every American whose demands for immigration security have been denied ― and every politician who has denied them ― to listen very closely to the words I am about to say. On January 21st of 2017, the day after I take the oath of office, Americans will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced."

September 2016

At a rally: “Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a country. Otherwise we don’t have a country.”

September 2016

On "The Dr. Oz Show": “Well, under my plan the undocumented or, as you would say, illegal immigrant wouldn’t be in the country. They only come in the country legally.”

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.