Latino Leaders Urge President Obama To Keep His Commitment To Have A Cabinet Representative Of The Diversity Of The Nation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, D.C. – Today, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA), a coalition of 36 of the nation’s preeminent Latino organizations, issued the following statement urging President Barack Obama to move quickly with announcing a replacement for outgoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano from among the highly qualified Latinos ready and willing to serve the nation.
Hector Sanchez, NHLA Chair and Executive Director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement said:
"During this critical time in our nation's history the Department of Homeland Security is, without a doubt, one of our nation's most vital federal agencies. With a budget of over $98 billion dollars and more than 200,000 employees responding to national disasters, defending against acts of terrorism and ensuring the safety of all Americans, the Department is central to our daily lives. In addition, after having absorbed the Immigration and Naturalization Service in 2003, DHS has the central responsibility of welcoming new Americans as well as implementing an immigration system that has been broken for far too long.
“The Department of Homeland Security requires strong and capable leadership in a Secretary who is also representative of the diversity of our nation and the growing influence of the Latino community. While we are hopeful that the President's Cabinet will soon include Thomas Perez as Secretary of Labor, he is yet to be confirmed. Until that time, the President's Cabinet does not have a single Latino.
“The DHS vacancy provides the President with a clear opportunity to make his Cabinet much more representative of our nation. We hope the President and his team will give strong consideration to the talented pool of Latinos qualified to serve as the next Cabinet Secretary and head of DHS.”
NHLA’s Latino Appointments Program has been working to cultivate and showcase the large pool of qualified Latinos in an historic effort to substantially increase the rate of Latinos in the federal workforce, in the President’s administration and in state-level appointments. The program is hosting outreach events across the nation, including a briefing at the National Council of La Raza conference July 20-23 in New Orleans, and recently held launch events and resume drops in Washington, D.C.; Las Vegas, Nevada during the LULAC Convention; and Chicago, Illinois during the NALEO conference.
Established in 1991, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) brings together Hispanic leaders to establish policy priorities that address, and raise public awareness of, the major issues affecting the Latino community and the nation as a whole. For more information, please visit www.latinoappointments.org and follow @NHLAgenda.
