National Council of La Raza Gets White House Appointment
Cecilia Muñoz, the long-time senior vice president of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), has been appointed Director of Intergovernmental Affairs by President-elect Obama. In her new role in the Obama White House, Muñoz will be the chief liaison between the Obama administration and state and local governments.
The office of Intergovernmental Affairs will provide her with a powerful platform from which to continue NCLR’s efforts to block meaningful enforcement of U.S. immigration laws. Her new position is especially critical at a time when most of the important advances in that area are being promoted by state and local governments.
The National Council of La Raza bills itself as a “Latino civil rights organization…[that] works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans.” In reality, the organization has long been at the forefront of the effort to stop all meaningful immigration enforcement measures and has been a powerful lobbying force for amnesty and expanding immigration.
As senior vice president of La Raza, Muñoz has been one of NCLR’s chief strategists for the past 18 years. She has also been the architect of the effort to shut down debate about immigration, and demonize any opposition to NCLR’s goals as a form of hate speech.
Because of this appointment, FAIR’s well-established network of local activist groups and its ties to local political leaders are likely to play a more important role than ever. Continued pressure from the grassroots to enact and enforce laws against illegal immigration locally will be critical to counteracting the influence of an NCLR operative in the White House.
