As part of her newfound commitment to executive amnesty, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has hired “United We Dream” activist Lorella Praeli as her new Latino outreach coordinator.
Praeli is an undocumented resident of the United States after her mother crossed illegally into the country. As an immigration reform activist, she has organized protests of both President Obama and Michelle Obama demanding amnesty for all illegal immigrants. Her organization even targeted Clinton and prominent members of Congress during their re-election campaigns in 2014.
According to the New Haven Register, Praeli came to the U.S. to seek medical treatment for Lorella after she was hit by a car when she was two and had to have her leg amputated. Praeli benefited from Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals executive order in 2012, but DREAMers connected to her organization continued to heckle the president in public appearances to demand more.
In November 2014, protestors interrupted the president during an event on the campaign trail demanding that he extend his executive order to their parents.
“Hold on, young lady. Hold on a second. Hold on. Hold on,” Obama protested, after the group interrupted. “You’re a DREAMer, and I gave you relief administratively, and we’re going to work on the next one.”
As the protesters continued to shout, Obama continued.
“I support you. I’m with you. I’m with you. I’m with you,” he explained. “And you need to go protest the Republicans. Because I’m not the one blocking it.”
In October 2014, DREAMers interrupted a campaign speech of First Lady Michelle Obama, demanding expanded amnesty for parents of child illegal immigrants.
“I hear you, babe. I hear you sweetie… I’m going to wait and let you finish, babe. I hear every word you’re saying,” the First Lady replied kindly as the activists shouted.
Praeli’s organization also crashed a speech by Hillary Clinton in October demanding that she support Obama’s executive actions on immigration.
“We wanted to interrupt her and send a very clear message,” one activist explained to reporters after the protest. “That we want her to take a very clear and bold stance for our families by calling on the president to stop deportations and to grant release to parents of DREAMers.”
Clinton ignored their cries, which frustrated Praeli’s activist colleagues who said they were “disappointed” with her.
Six months later, Praeli is now a member of Clinton’s campaign team and United We Dream has nothing but praise for their former leader.
“Lorella quickly became a master strategist, able to see connections and potential victories where others only saw frustration,” Cristina Jimenez, United We Dream managing director said in a statement calling her a “United We Dream success story.”
“We will be forever grateful for the impact she has had on our lives and the communities we serve,” she added.
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