Administration Appointments

NHLA has promoted qualified Latino candidates for positions throughout the Obama Administration and worked to overcome procedural and political obstacles in the U.S. Senate that have delayed the confirmation of numerous nominees.

To help support talented candidates interested in pursuing political appointments in the Obama Administration, NHLA has launched a new Presidential Appointments Project. Click here to learn more and encourage talented candidates to apply today!

Sotomayor on the Supreme Court

NHLA leadership and members worked vigorously to support the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor and build public and political support for her confirmation. Through visits to the Senate and media outreach, NHLA was able to help convey the excitement of the Latino community around Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination directly to Senators and their senior advisors.

Health Reform

NHLA formed the Latinos United for Healthcare (LUH) campaign to advocate for the Latino community’s priorities in health reform legislation. Through coordinated lobby visits and media outreach, the campaign was able to achieve several successes despite the polarized political environment surrounding health reform and its nexus with our immigrant population. These successes included, among other things, ensuring that health care affordability credits would be available to immigrant families and securing new Medicaid funding for the territories.

Arizona’s SB 1070

NHLA coordinated the response of major Hispanic organizations to the passage and subsequent signing into law of Arizona’s racial-profiling law, known as SB 1070. It created the UniteArizona website, a clearing house of information for advocates opposing SB 1070 and similar legislation in other states. NHLA also spearheaded efforts within the Latino advocacy community to call on Major League Baseball to relocate its all-star game out of Arizona. NHLA member organizations have filed lawsuits to block implementation of SB 1070; produced talking points, analyses and public opinion polls; and supported the work of local organizations and activists in Arizona.

Comcast-NBC Merger

NHLA, working with its membership and two other broad-based coalitions, spearheaded the execution of a historic Memorandum of Understanding between the Hispanic Leadership Organizations and Comcast and NBC Universal which provides for the creation of a Hispanic Advisory Council to work with the companies on specific benchmarks related to governance, employment, procurement, community reinvestment and programming. The MOU takes effect following the proposed merger and has been officially filed with the Federal Communications Commission.