Clinton campaign hires Dreamer as its Latino outreach director

In yet another sign of how seriously Hillary Clinton is competing for the Latino vote, the campaign announced Wednesday that it had hired a prominent DREAM activist, Lorella Praeli, as its Latino outreach director.

Praeli came to the United States from Peru at age 10 with her parents and eventually graduated from Quinnipiac University, where she also came out as undocumented and got active in the DREAM movement. Though Praeli obtained a green card in 2012, most of her family remains undocumented. She is stepping down from her position as director of advocacy and policy at United We Dream (UWD) to join the Clinton campaign.

UWD sent out a statement calling Praeli a "master strategist" who was "able to see connections and potential victories where others only saw frustration."

Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice, hailed the fact that a major campaign hired a Dreamer as a "milestone."

"Today’s announcement is another powerful indication that the Clinton campaign gets how important Latino voters are in the 2016 election and that immigrant justice is key to winning over a community that will prove decisive in numerous swing states."

But a different Dreamer organization, DREAM Action Coalition, promised to keep the heat on Clinton and other 2016 candidates even as it congratulated Praeli on her move.

"As Dreamers and families who continue to be undocumented, we have dedicated ourselves to our communities not a party and we we will continue to hold accountable all the presidential candidates."