Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the National Association of Latino and Elected and Appointed Officials honor it’s newly appointed president, Adolfo Carrion, Jr.  The Honorable Adolfo Carrion, Jr. is the Bronx Borough President, in New York.  Mr. Carrion spoke about the importance of continued outreach efforts within the Latino Community.

NALEO is a national organization which aims to empower and educate Latinos to become active participants in the political process. 

NALEO is working diligently to ensure that Latinos all across the country play a decisive role in the 2008 elections.   NALEO has a unique and innovative campaign seeking to increase the number of eligible permanent residents, to undergo the naturalization process. The organization has set out to reach a goal of over one million naturalized citizens in 2007.  One can measure the success of this campaign, by the number of naturalization applications that have been submitted.  The “Ya Es Hora, Ciudadania!”  or “It’s About Time” campaign has been quite successful in Los Angeles since its implementation in January of 2007.  The number of submitted applications in the Los Angeles area rose by 103%, compared to the nationwide increase of 61%. More applications have been submitted in the last 6 months than the entire US Citizenship and Immigration Services 2006 fiscal year. 

The campaign’s increasing success is impressive!  This goes to show that the Latino community is continuously working towards reaching that paradigm we all; as active participants of this country endlessly seek--  the “American Dream.” Republican and Democratic presidential candidates alike will have their work cut out for them this year--  efforts to court the Latino vote will hinge upon their support of immigration reform--  simply repeating a few words in Spanish, will not be sufficient to win a seat in the Oval Office.   The members of the Latino community desire a presidential candidate that will seek out workable solutions to issues such as; the Iraq War, education, affordable housing and comprehensive immigration reform, that will deliver and not just promise results.  One thing is certain, presidential candidates must come ready with a clear plan of action, and prepared to address the concerns of the Latino community.