Prominent Immigrant Advocate to Lead Clinton’s Latino Outreach

By Aura Bogado May 20, 2015

Hillary Clinton’s campaign has chosen a prominent immigrant advocate, Lorella Praeli, to lead the presumptive Democratic candidate’s Latino outreach.

News of Praeli’s appointment was first reported in Spanish-language media early this morning. La Opinión got the exclusive scoop then English-language media followed.

Twenty-six-year-old Praeli currently works as the policy director for United We Dream, a D.C.-based immigrant youth group originally started by the National Immigration Law Center to focus on passing the Dream Act.

Praeli, who arrived to the U.S. with her parents as a toddler from Peru in seek of better medical care after losing her right leg in an accident, obtained permanent residency in 2013. She’d long been critical of Obama’s policies, and his record-breaking deportation numbers in particular. With invitations to the White House—including meeting with Cecilia Muñoz, a prominent immigrant rights advocate with National Council of La Raza before she joined the Obama administration in 2012—Praeli’s position appeared to change over time. 

Praeli celebrated Obama’s executive actoin to extend DACA—the administration’s program that provides temporary deportation relief for undocumented youth—to parents. With United We Dream, Praeli’s latest effort targets the Republicans’ opposition to DAPA.

Less than a year ago, Clinton told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that children arriving to the United States after fleeing violence in Central America "should be sent back." Praeli begins her tenure as Clinton’s director for Latino outreach June 15.