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Community & Criticisms : Looking for the Answers in the Cecilia Muñoz Controversy

11:47 am By Maegan La Mala · Immigration|Secure Communities · Comments Off

15 Nov 2011

It’s a long way from April, when hardly anyone paid much mind to my critique of the role Cecilia Muñoz, the Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, was playing in her defense of the indefensible, the increase in detentions and deportations, and the growing criminalization of communities these increases requires.

Now, there are petitions, open letters, appearances, articles, and attacks. I knew that taking a position that directly challenged Muñoz as the Latina spokesperson for an administration that has actually done worse to our communities would be controversial and would also demand that community organizations who claim legitimacy in their role as community representatives be held accountable. I did/do this, not because it is in my mission statement, nor because I am beholden to any entity beyond the vecinos I stood doing laundry with on Sunday mornings, whom week after week watched Muñoz lie to them on behalf of an administration that promised change. The words in the American Prospect article are completely my own and I stand by them.

It is easy for organizations, their leadership, and the public relations departments housed within them, to attack an individual writer, calling them ill-informed and accusing them (me) of doing a disservice to the community. What has proven more difficult is answering the questions that remain. This is not about what services a specific organization provides nor about if they have condemned an immigration policy that deports an average of 400,000 people a year, leaving thousands of children in foster care. What it is about is answering precisely how does supporting Cecilia Muñoz serve the community? Claims about her attempting to change immigration policy fall flat in the face of reports that show that prosecutorial discretion is not being exercised, bolstering accusations that the Morton Memo and alleged reviews of deportation cases are nothing more than public relation tools.

As more data and documents are released and ICE fights tooth and nail to hide a paper trail that more than likely contains proof of the intentions behind their detention and deportation policies and practices, it falls on organizations claiming to represent community to show why shielding spokespeople for an administration that has failed in fulfilling it’s promises is beneficial.

Everything else, just like in the Obama administration is just PR.

While Communities Denounce S-Comm, White House Sends its Latina Spokesmodel to Defend It

29 Aug 2011

A spokesmodel is a spokesperson whose physical appearance contributes to brand equity.
When I think of Latina spokesmodels, I think of the women of Sabado Gigante : leggy, tetona, culona bottle blonde white women smiling holding up the next product we just have to have. They are stereotypical examples of what Latinidad should be and in general mass audiences comsume that image, internalize that identity, as much as whatever dishwashing soap the jingle is asking us to purchase.

Cecilia Muñoz, the Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House, plays an equivalent role well in Latino politics. She has proven to be the Latina spokesmodel for Obama’s immigration policy, prioritizing deportations over any executive action that could be taken and attempting to sell this destructive product to us in English and Spanish.

In response to the coordinated protests across the country happening against the expansion of the Secure Communities deportation policy, the White House officially responded through a post, with Muñoz’s name, on the official White House Blog.

The title of the post, In the Debate Over Immigration and Deportations, the Facts Matter, implies that the protesters, organizations and community members are lying about the impact of Secure Communities. In other words : potential Latino voters – the White House doesn’t believe you.

Their is a call growing for Cecilia Muñoz to resign from her position. Many feel that she is incapable of stepping back and actually listening to criticisms. Some may say she is simply doing her job and that Latinos should be happy to have someone in the White House. We are told to wait until November of 2012 and let the election sort it out, not to personalize the issue. That this S-Comm is part of a larger immigration policy strategy and that Muñoz is a genius and has done much in terms of immigration.
I counter that asking how many deportations past the one million mark will we be at in 2012. Is this level of deception acceptable because it is coming from the Democratic Party and not the GOP? I am pretty certain that those whose loved ones are being deported take the issue very personally.

This is not about quitate tu pa’ponerme yo. This is not about careerism. Certainly this is about a policy that is destroying families under the cover of taking care of the “bad guys”. Cecilia Muñoz can keep selling with a smile, a service that is harmful to our communities, or she can keep it real and resign.

White House Response to Senators’ Letter on Deferred Action : Send in the Latina Yes Mujer?

8:51 am By Maegan La Mala · DREAM Act|Immigration|Obama|Politics · 10 Comments

15 Apr 2011

Yesterday, I told you about the letter sent to President Obama, signed by 22 Senators, asking him to stop the deportation of DREAMers and to grant deferred action. In the letter, they lay out very clearly that he has the authority to do it.

The official White House response came via Cecilia Munoz, former Senior Vice President for the Office of Research, Advocacy and Legislation at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and current Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House.

In an interview which aired yesterday on Univision, (this link autoplays in case you are at work), Munoz said that the answer is a legislative one, passing the DREAM Act, and said that there could be a better way to deal with DREAMers cases, but on a one by one basis. Munoz says :

…the President cannot say that he will ignore the law and not apply it for a group of people on a large scale.

Munoz asserts the same position in an interview with Telemundo (autoplay link), that Obama cannot defer the deportations of a whole group of students, but that an option is to do so on a one by one basis.
Read more…

Political Football from the White House on DREAM?

1:28 pm By Maegan La Mala · DREAM Act|Immigration|Obama|Politics · 7 Comments

6 Dec 2010

Yesterday, Cecilia Muñoz, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House, represented for the Obama administration on Univision’s Al Punto, with Jorge Ramos. On the program, she assured, in Spanish, that Obama and his people were doing everything they could on behalf of the DREAM Act, including phone calls. She also took issue with Rep. Gutierrez (and others) saying that Comprehensive immigration reform was dead. From the perspective of the White House, the issue of CIR is “when not if”. Not surprisingly, Muñoz placed the blame on a lack of movement on CIR and the possible failure of the DREAM Act squarely on the shoulders of the Republicans. Reports , however, call into question the sincerity of Obama and his administration on moving the DREAM Act and on fixing the immigration system overall.

Politico highlights statements made on CNN’s “State of the Union by Republican Senator Richard Lugar (Ind.) that indicate that Obama is using DREAM, and other legislation as a negotiating pawn.

Lugar said the White House and Republicans are trying to craft a deal that would lead to three major items being considered by the Senate before it leaves town for the holidays: tax cut extensions, a continuing resolution to fund the government, and START.

How much of this is actually true is unclear and this could just be an attempt by the GOP to deflect all the blame being placed on them back onto the Dems. Much of what happens next from negotiations between the GOP and the White House is going to be wait and see. What we do know is that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is expected to file cloture on the DREAM Act today.

Obama Latino Cabinet Picks : Cecilia Muñoz of NCLR

9:22 am By Maegan La Mala · Politics|Women · 1 Comment

3 Dec 2008

With many Latinos in the mainstream blogosphere feeling snubbed by President Elect Obama passing over Bill Richardson as Secretary of State, the focus is shifting to who are the other Latinos in Obama’s cabinet, feeling that a Latino in the cabinet will mean that our interests are looked out for. Apprently no one learned from Alberto Gonzales’s time that having a Latino in and of itself doesn’t guarantee a damn thing.

Another Latino in the Obama White House is Cecilia Muñoz, senior vice president for the Office of Research, Advocacy, and Legislation at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR). She was named as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, coordinating the White House’s relations with local and state governments.

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