Cecilia Muñoz Booed By Immigration Lawyers Over Detainee Abuse

*Seventeen lawyers petitioned to rescind the invitation to Cecilia Muñoz, but the AILA leadership said that because she was an Obama administration official she could “stand in front of a room of immigration lawyers and speak for the White House. And the White House must be held accountable for what it has done.” It kinda’ sounds like a set-up, but the protesting lawyers have a lot of anger to vent. VL

By Cedar Attanasio, Latin Times

Cecilia Muñoz once wrote that “outrage” as an immigration activist got her jobs in Washington, but it was a willingness to self-censor that got earned her current job in the White House. On Thursday, Ms. Muñoz became the target of the activist anger that she used to dish out, as she delivered a speech defending President Barack Obama’s immigration policies to members of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). A former immigration lobbyist for the National Council of La Raza, she’s seen as the face of Obama’s immigration policy as Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council.

[pullquote]By the end of her speech, attendants stood at the foot of her podium hold signs with the word SHAME.[/pullquote]

“You’re job is to hold our feet to the fire when we get it wrong. I know that job, I did it for 25 years. Keep doing it, it’s important,” Muñoz told the immigration lawyers.

On Thursday, that face turned into a punching bag. Despite a chummy introduction where she underscored her closeness with AILA leaders, the substance and context in the room made her a target of rage.

By the end of her speech, attendants stood at the foot of her podium hold signs with the word SHAME.