A leading immigrant advocacy group has declined to invite Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton to its annual conference next month, despite extending invitations to presidential candidates in previous election years.
Janet Murguia, president of the National Council of La Raza, said in a statement Wednesday that the group is blacklisting Trump from speaking at its conference because of his “concerted effort to denigrate and demonize not just immigrants, but the entire 55 million-plus Latinos in this country.”
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Because La Raza is a nonpartisan group, Murguia said an invitation to Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, will also be withheld.
“While it is unfortunate that our attendees will be unable to hear from the candidates since we believe that our community and electoral process is best served when both parties are competing for the Latino vote, we stand proudly behind this decision,” Murguia said.
Past presidential hopefuls who’ve spoken to the group include Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Vice President Al Gore. President Obama and former President George W. Bush have also delivered keynote speeches at La Raza’s previous annual conferences.
According to a statement, the decision not to invite Trump or Clinton was unanimously affirmed by La Raza’s board of directors. The conference will take place in Orlando, Fla., shortly both parties host their national conventions in July.
