Leading immigration reformer Rep. Luis Guitierrez, D-Ill., endorsed Hillary Clinton on Monday prior to her appearance at a major forum on the issue.
The congressman described Clinton as “the only presidential candidate with a long and strong history of fighting for [the Latino] community,” citing her experience registering Texan Latinos to vote in the 1970s, her work with Hispanic children while serving as first lady and her current work to improve healthcare and education access for Hispanic families and DREAMers.
“No other candidate will fight more Latino families Hillary, and none can achieve more for our community. Hillary is well aware of the consequences of not passing immigration reform, both migrant families and our entire society,” Guiterrez wrote in Spanish in an Univision op-ed.
The two will appear together at National Immigrant Integration Conference in New York City Monday evening. Guitierrez was a key figure in President Obama’s fight for executive action on immigration. He also serves as the chairman of the Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Gutierrez’s endorsement comes as Clinton leads in the Latino community by a large margin, even though both her opponents have been campaigning heavily to win that voting bloc. Most recently, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro endorsed Clinton at a “Latinos for Hillary” event in Texas, and rumors have circulated that he could be on her vice-presidential shortlist.
But Clinton’s push for the Latino vote has not been without missteps. The former secretary of state was criticize after using the term “illegal immigrants” at a November town hall event in New Hampshire, something for which she later apologized and described as a “poor choice of words.”
Clinton has also been criticized by her Democratic primary opponents for lacking a specific comprehensive immigration reform plan. Longshot candidate Martin O’Malley said in a statement that Clinton selfishly “puts her own political interests before those of the New American immigrant community.”
Nevertheless, Democrats are mostly unified on immigration.
“When Republicans fight among themselves to see who can build the biggest wall or deport the most immigrants, Hillary has demonstrated a real commitment to immigrant communities. She has defended immigrant communities hateful rhetoric of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz,” Gutierrez wrote. “All voters who care about justice, equality and integration … have seen how she has raised its voice against the hateful rhetoric of those seeking to be president.”
