Thursday, July 22, 2010

Moran Elected LULAC President In New Mexico At Annual Conference

Margaret "Margie" Moran

In July, LULAC filed one of seven lawsuits challenging Arizona's SB 1070

By H. Nelson Goodson
July 22, 2010

Albuquerque, New Mexico – On Thursday,  the Washington D.C. based organization League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) announced the results of their annual election of officers and president. LULAC is the oldest and largest Hispanic civil rights organization in the country. Members elected Margaret "Margie" Moran as President at the LULAC general assembly and its officers on Saturday, July 17th in Albuquerque, New Mexico during the conclusion of the convention. Moran has been a LULAC member for 30 years and served in various positions throughout her membership. She carried every state and Puerto Rico with 70% of the membership vote.
“We made history on Saturday,” said LULAC National President Margaret Moran. “I am honored to serve in this role. LULAC is a non-partisan organization that consists of people from all walks of life and perspectives. Our organization must move forward by continuing to recruit and inspire youth and young adults to participate. We provide them with the resources to become leaders and have many members that are outstanding models and mentors."
Lizette Jenness Olmos, Spokesperson for LULAC in the press release said, "it is the first time a husband and wife both served as national president of the organization and the third woman in 81 years to hold this position. The first woman president was Belen Robles and the second to hold the position was Rosa Rosales."
Moran as President committed herself to make sure that LULAC will continue to support for comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, an effective health care reform, the Dream Act, worker’s rights and addressing social justice and human rights issues. She wants to expand 100% growth of LULAC Councils in every university and college throughout the nation and to increase enrollment of Latinos in higher education.
In July, LULAC filed a Class Action lawsuit against the State of Arizona and SB 1070, which allows state and local police officers to request the legal status to be in the country from people they encounter during enforcement of ordinances and criminal investigations. LULAC's lawsuit became one seven lawsuits filed against Arizona in federal court in Phoenix.
The complaint, was filed on July 9, 2010, in federal court in Phoenix as a class action, it alleges that Arizona’s training materials developed and distributed to Arizona law enforcement agencies to implement SB 1070 “exacerbate the conflicts between the United States Constitution and federal laws on the one hand, and Arizona law on the other hand.” The complaint alleges that Arizona’s training materials violate federal law “by failing to recognize that numerous categories of immigrants who did not enter the United States lawfully nevertheless are eligible for legalization of status,” and “by permitting law enforcement officers to rely upon vague and ill-defined factors such as a person’s ‘dress,’ ‘difficulty communicating in English,’ ‘demeanor,’ and ‘claim of not knowing others … at [the] same location,’ as providing justification for a detention based on suspected undocumented status.” The lawsuit argues that Arizona’s SB 1070 is “void and should be struck down under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.”

Margaret Moran for LULAC 2010 campaign video: http://bit.ly/djgytL

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