Congressman Adriano Espaillat made history today when he was sworn in as the first Dominican lawmaker to ever be elected to Congress. Espaillat didn’t do this alone. Hundreds of his followers went to the nation's capital to be part of the moment and our Washington bureau reporter Alberto Pimienta was there.

It was a moment years in the making. Congressman Adriano Espaillat calls it a new beginning.

"This is a new chapter in the politics of the city and this particular district which is an iconic district in the city of New York and the state of New York," Espaillat said. "I hope to be a voice for everyone. Not just one particular group over the other and to be a true fighter for progressive causes."

Espaillat is replacing long-time lawmaker Charles Rangel. Rangel defeated Espaillat twice in 2012 and 2014 before announcing his retirement in 2016.

In a rare sight in the first day of a new Congress, Espaillat packed hundreds of his supporters into an auditorium in Capitol Hill. Many of them rode buses from New York City all the way to Washington to be part of this moment.

Senate minority Leader Chuck Schumer, lawmakers Nydia Velazquez and Jose Serrano were there as well.

While this election may be historic, Espaillat is in the minority party. Just like many other Democrats, he wants to stop Republicans from repealing Obamacare.

"We must fight to ensure that the Affordable Care Act is not dismantled," Espaillat said. "There are provisions in the Affordable Health Care Act that are very important to our residents."

As for his personal priorities for his constituents, he said jobs and housing top that list:

"I think that jobs and housing continues to be a major, major hurdle, a major problem for the residents that I represent," Espaillat said. "I will be working with NYCHA residents to see if we can bring Capitol dollars to the NYCHA apartments to make sure that we invest in creating new affordable housing and creating new jobs." 

Espaillat spent some time in the United States as an undocumented immigrant. He says that personal experience will make him fight to fix the immigration system and keep the protection for young migrants implemented by President Obama.

With the Republicans in the majority, that won’t be an easy task.