Now the debate goes to the state Senate and is not expected to come up until next week, according to a Senate Democratic aide.

Mayor John DeStefano Jr., an outspoken advocate for immigration reform, took on the issue seven years ago by offering undocumented immigrants resident identification cards and released a statement in support of the legislation.

“Like the municipal ID, granting immigrants driver licenses regardless of immigration status is good policy. Drivers’ licenses will reduce the number of uninsured motorists on the road and will establish training and testing standards to ensure driver safety. Moreover, like the Elm City ID, drivers’ licenses can help connect immigrants with banking services to help reduce street crime, increase the reporting of crime and help to create a sense of community identity,” DeStefano said in a statement.

More than 10,000 cards have been issued since the program’s inception and the ID cards have gone a long way in strengthening relationships between residents and the city’s police department, DeStefano said in March.

“It’s an immense honor that the government had the trust in my abilities to appoint me to such a prestigious seat,” says Espinosa. “Being a Supreme Court judge is the pinnacle of my career.”

She says although she’s also enjoyed her jobs as an FBI agent, assistant U.S. attorney, and a French and Spanish teacher in Connecticut public schools, having achieved this position is “extraordinarily satisfying.”

“All of them were building blocks to my present status,” says Espinosa, explaining all of her previous jobs gave her the skills she needs today — gathering facts, building cases, and enforcing the laws.

She says being a judge wasn’t even a slight dream when she was younger.

“My goal was to graduate from high school, because my parents never did,” says Espinosa, who was born in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico and moved to New Britain, Conn. at age 3 with her family. “As I got into high school and associated with friends going to college, that’s when I thought about going to college. I thought I could be a teacher, because that was something I could attain.”

She says they settled in New Britain, Conn., because a cousin told them there was a lot of work there.

“It changed my life,” says Espinosa, who was the first in her family to graduate college.

Eventually, she graduated from Central Connecticut State University in 1971, received her master’s degree in Hispanic Studies from Brown University in 1973 and received her law degree from George Washington University Law School in 1976.

“I was in a program at George Washington University called Law Students in Court, and that gave me my first taste of being in the court — once I did that, I knew I wanted to be a trial lawyer.”

Today, she says she enjoys the intellectual challenge that is involved in her job, and the different types of cases she oversees.

“There are never two cases that are alike,” says the judge. “There’s always a fresh approach to the cases we hear. I like that what we do affects the people — their personal life, the family side, the civil area — that’s very fulfilling.”

At 63, she has seven years as a Supreme Court judge, since the mandatory retirement age is 70.

“When I reach 70, I hope I am still mentally able to somehow serve,” says the divorced mother of three children. “I would like to teach at a college or law school so I could share my knowledge with further generations. I started out as a teacher, and hopefully I’ll end up as a teacher.”

She says she realizes the importance of a strong support system, because her parents were always there for her.

“I could see how hard they worked to give us a better life,” says Espinosa. “They sacrificed everything to give us what they didn’t have. My mother worked in a factory, my father worked in a lumber yard, no matter what the weather…What did inspire me was my father. He used to tell me when things were difficult to never give up. He always encouraged me to keep going…I would always call home, and he would say, ‘You could do it.’”

“In honor of Ana’s life, we invite you to celebrate with family or friends today,” she began the post. “Reach out to a neighbor, coworker or classmate. Perform a random act of kindness. Wear something purple or sparkly. Read with a child. Crank up the music, eat second dessert, dance like nobody’s watching. Call your leaders. Pray for our country. Pray for common sense solutions. Pray for a love revolution.”

In USA Today on Thursday, both parents, Jimmy Greene and Nelba Márquez-Greene, talked a bit about their daughter.

“Ana was an infectiously happy child loved by everyone — equal parts her passionate Puerto Rican therapist mother and her African-American jazz musician father, the parents wrote. “She danced rather than walk. She danced from room to room and place to place. She danced to all the music she heard, whether in the air or in her head.”

RELATED: Mother of Sandy Hook victim: “She should have lived to be seven”

But the family, which works with “Sandy Hook Promise,” a nonprofit organization asking the country to make a promise a tragedy like Sandy Hook will never happen again, also addressed what they want people to remember on her birthday.

“We somehow missed the connection before, only realizing last week that Ana was born on the anniversary of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s death,” the parents wrote.

“When we think of all that Dr. King accomplished before he was taken away, we are all the more bereft that Ana’s limitless potential will never be realized. Like the thousands of children we lose every year to gun violence. How many might have grown up to cure a disease, write a symphony, or be the next Dr. King? Our message on Ana’s birthday is simple: Let’s stop squandering this potential. Let love win by valuing human life.”

In the Facebook letter, her mother shared a treasured and tragic possession — the last photo she took with her daughter.

The last photo ever taken of Ana Grace Marquez-Greene and her mother.

“Seven years ago I gave birth to the most amazing sweet caramel princess. Less than four months ago, she was executed in her classroom. This photo is our final picture together taken at dinner on December 13th,” she wrote.

Her mother concluded her letter thanking everyone around the country for their support and with a final message for her daughter, taken much too soon.

“Thank you for loving and supporting us. Thank you for not letting Ana’s memory fade away. Thank you for your cards and letters both to us and to Washington. Thank you for reminding us that love does win. Happy first birthday in heaven to our princess of peace. Our princess for 6 and 1/2 years. Jesus’ princess for eternity.”

RELATED: Sandy Hook victim Ana Márquez-Greene, 6, laid to rest

Dr. Mendez is also one of the four Latino doctors in Newtown who have been recruited into the United Physicians of Newtown — a group of 106 doctors, residing in Newtown, Conn., who are dedicated to making the world a safer place. On March 14, they are supposed to have their second meeting, at the Edmund Town Hall, to further develop their position statement, which now includes, among other things: nullifying the restriction on federal institutions pursuing research on violence prevention, advocating for financial resources dedicated to mental health, and changing the culture of violence in the U.S. today.

“Most importantly, we want to raise awareness,” says Dr. Mendez, who is also the father of two kids in a neighboring school. “I was in charge of taking two kids to the hospital. It was one of the most horrifying things I’ve ever seen. I’m still waking up with nightmares about this…When kids come in with gunshots, it’s really a terrifying moment.”

Dr. Raul Arguello agrees. He was also working at Danbury Hospital when he received a text message from his wife that there was a shooting at a school. Immediately, he went to pick up his 7 and 11-year-old.

“I got to Sandy Hook, and the road was closed and the police was there,” says Arguello. “I left my car in the street and started running. All I had in my mind was I hope my kids are OK. It was a chaotic scene. No one knew what was going on. Every parent was screaming their child’s name. There was no order to be honest.”

He says he was one of the lucky ones who found his kids alive and was able to give them a hug and a kiss, but there were too many who were not so lucky.

About a month ago, a few days after Dr. William Begg, director at Danbury Hospital (10 miles from Newtown), testified to a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence, Dr. J. James Bruno began forming  the United Physicians of Newtown and held the first meeting.

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“We have kids at Sandy Hook Elementary School,” says Dr. Arguello, who went to the first meeting. “We started reaching out to others — making phone calls, sending e-mails…75 people came that day — only doctors. We never realized there were so many of us in Newtown.”

Dr. Mendez says they all agreed on a few key points that they want to address government officials on to prevent a catastrophe like this from happening again.

The physicians would like more research in order to educate people about firearm injuries, a change in societal norms that currently glorify guns and violence in the media and gaming, firearm safety with childproof locks for every house, background checks for purchasing firearms, and support for the civilian ban on assault weapons.

“The emphasis is not only on the guns, but we want to do more research and have more scientific data for this to never happen again,” says Dr. Mendez. “We really want to make sure that every mentally ill person has access to healthcare. And as physicians, help them. We should be able to talk about it…If we identify [abnormal] behaviors, be able to disclose the information to authorities. Right now, if I see such behavior, I’m not allowed to report it to anybody.”

Dr. Gustavo Alday, from the neighboring town of Bethel, says more has to be done to keep our kids safe.

“My daughter is only 11, and she goes to dance class in Newtown,” he says. “Several students from her dance school died that day… We talked a lot. We were going to go to Newtown and leave some presents and letters, but for her to go there it took us 10 days because she was afraid. She didn’t want to face it.”

Dr. Mendez says he and his wife have started discussions with their children to respect the decision of others who choose to own a gun, but to also respect differences of opinion.

“We have so many differences of opinion, but everybody seems to agree there is a problem, and we need to fix it, and we need to have a unified voice,” says Dr. Mendez.

Dr. Raul Arguello concurs.

“We want to come public — this Thursday is the third month anniversary,” he says. “This is who we are, and what we stand for. We want to share our expertise… Common sense is starting to take place.”

“We have lost about 20 employees through sequestration,” said Raymond Lopez, Jr., president and CEO of Engineering Services Network (ESN), one of the top Latino-owned companies in Virginia. ESN is an engineering and technology company which does contract work for the Department of Defense.  In anticipation of cuts, Lopez’ customers have cut back on orders, resulting in the layoffs.

“This is a sad commentary on our ability to govern in this country by our elected representatives,” said Lopez. “If everything is done by knee-jerk reaction, we are going to hurt our sons and daughters who are our war fighters right now,” remarked Lopez, who retired as a full Commander in the Navy before his work as a defense contractor.

Some federal employees are already bracing for the anticipated furloughs – unpaid, required days off in order to offset reduced funding to their agencies.

“I am curtailing my personal spending in anticipation of what may happen,” says an employee at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)who does not wish to be identified.   The employee’s department has been told there will probably be furloughs to avoid cuts in the department’s operations.

In New Mexico, more than 7,000 civilian military contractors are facing furloughs, resulting in more than $42 million in income loss, according to Democratic Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham.

In the town of Hartford, Connecticut, Mayor Pedro Segarra has stated that a reduction in federal funds would adversely affect 14 programs in his city, ranging from money for WIC (Women, Infant and Children) which provides supplemental food for low-income mothers and children under the age of 5, and well as housing and public health programs.   “The bottom line is that Congress is making decisions that will impact the day-to-day lives of many residents here in Hartford,” said Mayor Segarra when the “fiscal cliff” talks were just an abstraction.

In the meantime, back in the Beltway, there is no sign yet that the two parties can reach an agreement that would avert sequestration from taking place.  Republican legislators in the House backed House Speaker John Boehner’s decision to let the cuts take place without agreement with the Administration.   “I think he (Boehner) realized the president of the United States was using him as a tool for his own benefit and was not actually in a partnership with him, and he also realized that we in the House were not happy with what was coming out of those negotiations,” said Idaho Republican Congressman Raúl Labrador to the New York Times.

President Obama, in a press conference with reporters today, fired back and laid the blame of the sequester on the GOP. “Let’s be clear – it’s because of a choice the Republicans chose to make – they decided to protect special interest tax breaks and that is more important than protecting our military and middle class families,” said Obama.

But for those going through cuts, what they would like to see is light at the end of the tunnel.

“Our elected officials owe it to their constituents to sit down and fix this problem once and for all,” said Virginia defense contractor Raymond Lopez.

  Echoing complaints already brought by some Sandy Hook families, Blumenthal and fellow Connecticut Democrats U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty requested the removal of offending pages in a letter to Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg Monday morning.

The lawmakers said some pages purportedly set up to honor the victims of the Dec. 14 shooting in Newtown have been used to exploit or harass the victims’ families and could be used as vehicles for financial fraud.

The lawmakers also said the pages also appear to violate Facebook’s own terms of use, which prohibit users from creating accounts for anyone other than themselves.

In the letter, the lawmakers said they know of more than 100 pages dedicated to just one of the victims, slain teacher Victoria Soto.

Some of those contain postings from conspiracy theorists who claim the shootings were staged, and that Soto and others were actors.

RELATED: Maria Gomez and Victoria Soto are honored with the 2012 Presidential Citizens Medal

“Certainly there have been many, too many, of these pages that are intimidating or harassing or exploitive,” Blumenthal said. “I’m pleased that Facebook has responded positively.”

The lawmakers said Facebook also had received complaints from Soto’s family and the family of Kaitlin Roig, a first-grade teacher who survived the shooting and has been credited with saving the lives of her students by locking the class in a small bathroom and barricading the door.

A Facebook page titled “Kaitlin Roig is a Hero” contains numerous well-wishes but also prompted abusive posts, such as one that reads, “Congratulations Kaitlin or whatever your name is..  Now you’re famous and got to meet the `President.’ You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”

Blumenthal said his office received a phone call Monday from Facebook officials saying they had already begun removing abusive pages.

Facebook did not immediately reply to an email request for comment.

There has been one fraud arrest already connected to a Sandy Hook Facebook posting.

Nouel Alba, a 37-year-old New York City woman, is accused of using her Facebook account, telephone calls and text messages to seek donations for what she called a “funeral fund.”  She allegedly told one donor that she had to enter the scene of the mass shooting in Newtown to identify her nephew, according to the criminal complaint.  Jury selection in her trial has been scheduled for March.

Blumenthal said they are not asking that all Sandy Hook-related tribute or donation pages be removed, just the ones that are not authorized by the families.

“Facebook needs to follow its own rules, and enforce those rules,” Blumenthal said.

That’s the message many residents across Northeast states are receiving as winter storm “Nemo” is set to hit, which means bad news for business owners.

“Friday and Saturday is our bread and butter, but not this week,” says Omar Chuchucha, general manager of Sonora restaurant, an hour outside of Connecticut. “As of Wednesday we had 150 reservations but yesterday it went down to 80 and today we’re at 15. I don’t think they’re coming.”

Tanya Menendez, the co-owner of MakersRow.com in New York City, which connects American manufacturers with product designers and brands, was all set for one of the biggest weekends of the year because of New York Fashion Week, until Nemo decided to barrel down the runway.

“Although we’re a tech company we still run around to different factories in the city,” she says. “If the storm hits heavily the factories will have to shut down. Now is a crucial time because of New York Fashion Week and this is when they were going to be cranking out products.”

Menendez says the same thing happened during Hurricane Sandy, which led to a lot of factories being damaged and an inability to take orders. “A lot of designers need last-minute projects,” she added. “Being in New York we have the fastest turn around time but now the storm could affect revenue.”

NBC News: ’Whiteout’: Potentially historic winter storm closes in on Northeast

Throughout Friday, cities took precautions as the Weather Channel called for as much as 2 feet of snow in Hartford, Conn., and as much as 15 inches in New York.

At a press conference the Mayor of Hartford, Pedro E. Segarra said a parking ban is underway for all city streets, city parks will close at dusk and the fire department, police department and utility workers are fully staffed.

In Rhode Island, Mayor Angel Taveras instituted a city-wide parking ban for Providence in anticipation of large snow accumulation after the National Weather Service estimated approximately three inches of snow falling each hour during the peak of the storm, according to the Brown Daily Herald.

The general manager of Sonora says restaurants like his will just have to deal with the fierce weather.

“They’re saying by 8:30, 9 pm there will be a huge blizzard,” Chuchucha says. “We’re losing a lot of business.”

At the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on gun control, Cruz pressed Baltimore Police Chief Jim Johnson to prove why stricter gun control would lead to fewer homicides.

“What empirical data supports your contention that restricting the rights of law-abiding citizens to possess firearms would decrease crime rather than making people more vulnerable to violent criminals, which is what I would suggest the data indicates has happened when it’s been done?” asked Sen. Cruz.

Cruz pointed out that while Baltimore suffers from a murder rate of 31.1 murders per 100,000 people, cities in Texas like Austin and Houston have a lower rate with more lenient gun control. Johnson responded that restrictions vary by state and guns can flow in unchecked across borders.

Earlier this week, Cruz penned a letter to gun makers and their banks encouraging them to bring their business to Texas after Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel urged Bank of America and TD Bank Group to cut off financial support for major gun manufacturers.

Cruz’s pro-gun-rights campaign comes in a week of major incidents involving firearms. During the Senate hearing on adopting gun control laws, a Phoenix man opened fire in a legal office, killing one and wounding two. He was found dead this morning due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

An Alabama gunman continues to hold a 5-year-old boy hostage in a bunker after killing a school bus driver.

A young Colombian man was shot and killed after he accidentally entered a Georgia man’s driveway.

On Tuesday, a shooting in Chicago took the life of a 15-year-old girl who performed in the Washington, D.C. inaugural parade.

Cruz is championing conservative values even while some of his fellow Republicans edge closer to the center.  On Tuesday, the Senator spoke out against an immigration reform proposal mapped out by a bipartisan group of Senators including Marco Rubio and John McCain.  The same day, the Cuban-American junior senator submitted a bill to repeal Obamacare.

Lawmakers seem prepared to take on the divisive issue of gun control even though the country is very much split, with only a slim majority supporting tougher laws. Cruz’s push for conservatism may win out in the short run but the coming months and years will tell if his bet pays off.

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Raul Salinas, the Mayor of the border city of Laredo, Texas, is chair of the organization’s Immigration Reform Task Force, a group which held a meeting this morning.  A retired FBI agent and former diplomatic attaché in Mexico City, Salinas says local officials like him have been at the forefront of advocating for reforming the nation’s immigration system. “We are a border community, and we cannot afford to keep immigration in the shadows,” says Salinas. “We have zero tolerance for undocumented individuals who come to the U.S. to commit violent and dangerous crimes, but the majority of folks are hard-working and are obeying the law,” says Salinas. The Mayors’ immigration task force has reported that legalizing the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants would add trillions to the nation’s tax coffers.

Adding much-needed dollars to his city’s tax base is one of the reasons Hartford, Connecticut Mayor Pedro Segarra strongly supports changes in immigration laws.  ”We had been a city of 175,000, and now we are down to a population of 125,000,” says Segarra. “This actually increases unemployment, since less people means you don’t have a strong consumer market,” Segarra says. The Hartford mayor says reforming immigration laws would increase foreign professionals and skilled workers.  In addition, Segarra says, immigrant populations serve as conduits as American cities try to export goods and services.

Gun control is another issue where the mayors are pushing for change.  Laredo Mayor Salinas says he respects the Second Amendment, and has many hunters and gun enthusiasts in his border city.  But as a former FBI agent, Salinas supports the ban on high-capacity clips and assault weapons.  ”You don’t want to get these weapons in the wrong hands,” he states. “We are vulnerable as a border town, too – when the wrong people get hold of these high-caliber weapons it poses a danger to our community,” Salinas explains.

Both Salinas and Hartford’s Mayor Segarra praised President Obama’s executive action targeting more money for mental health resources. “Cuts in mental health funding cuts have affected our community a lot,” says Salinas.

Mayor Segarra, who is a former psychotherapist, says he learned that a lot of homicides are outward manifestations of suicide. “The cuts in mental health services end up being picked up by my taxpayers, who then have to pay more for police overtime,” he says. “It’s not fair for our community to have to be the ones to pay to the effects of mass gun distributions or a lack of regulation,” adds Segarra.

The mayors will also be discussing  job creation and small business opportunities, as well as the housing market and the educational needs of a changing workforce.  But as Congress and the President debate large legislative action on immigration and gun control, the mayor of Hartford, Connecticut says there is one thing he wants to communicate.

“One thing we want to stress is that our cities are made up of families – and our families want change,” Segarra says.  ”As mayors, we need to communicate our families’ stories, and push for a supportive agenda.”