Barack Obama, John McCain, and even Hillary Clinton will all be speaking at this year's convention of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), an illegal immigration-supporting group that was once patriotic but has since been radicalized. As shown by the attendees discussed below, the convention will be a nexus of those who do not support what's in the best interests of the U.S. For example, here's a 2007 quote from their national treasurer Jaime Martinez, who'll also be appearing at one of their workshops:

"We must not sell out, and we must fight for the rights of our people that have been here! ...This is our land and we're going to fight for just and humane comprehensive immigration reform!... ...We did not cross the border, the border crossed us."

Needless to say, such sentiments are straight out of Reconquista 101, and both candidates (and Hillary) should be asked why they're speaking to such a group. Please go to one of their public appearances, read that quote, and then ask them to renounce LULAC.

McCain will appear at their "Diversity Luncheon" tomorrow; the "Open Dialogue with Obama" will be later that day. Hillary will speak on Friday. On Wednesday there's an invitation-only Ohtli Reception; whether that's related to the Mexican government's awards with the same name isn't known. Others attending include Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.

Their president Rosa Rosales says:

"We are at a turning point for both Latinos and our country's leadership. This is the Latino summer."

On an ominous note, they want to increase the numbers of Latinos working for the federal government. While that might initially seem to be a worthy goal, their actual goal is to embed those who sympathize with their agenda in positions of power [1]:

In partnership with the OPM Management Development Center and the Graduate School, USDA, [LULAC's Federal Training Institute] offers workshops that enable mid and senior level government employees to enhance their leadership competencies skills that develop the Executive Core Qualifications required for entry to the Senior Executive Service...

Their workshops include the following:
* "Election 2008: Mobilizing the Latino Vote", featuring Rep. Mike Honda of the DNC and Mike Duncan of the RNC.

* "The Media Objectivity in Covering Immigration". Mentions "Lou Dobbs, O'Reilly and Glenn Beck"; Ray Suarez of PBS has been invited to moderate. Showing their objectivity, all four panelists will presumably support illegal immigration.

* "Global Warming and its Consequences for Latinos": "Panelist will address why the Latino population is overwhelming vulnerable to this phenomenon..." No, really.

* "Supersize Me: Strategies for Growing Council Membership": features Jaime Martinez, the source for the quote used at the start of this post.

* "Immigration: Redefining the Debate". Senator Bob Menendez and Rep. Xavier Becerra have been invited. Those who've confirmed their presence include "Mauricio Farah, Quinto Visitador General, La Comision Nacional de Derechos Humanos de Mexico", Frank Sherry from America's Voice, Tamar Jacoby of Immigration Works USA, and Lori Wallach from Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch.

* "High Powered Latinas and the Challenges They Face" featuring someone from the U.S. Army together with Dolores Huerta and Lydia Camarillo of the Southwest Voter Education and Registration Project.

UPDATE: McCain's remarks are here. Noting any difference between that and his previous speeches is left as an exercise. And, America Blog contributor Joe Sudbay was refused a press pass (americablog.com/2008/07/no-live-blogging-of-mccain-and-obama.html) despite being a LULAC useful idiot. He thinks it's because they don't understand new media, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they got the wrong impression about that domain name.

UPDATE 2: Here's a discussion of Barack Obama's remarks. He was introduced by L.A.'s own Antonio Villaraigosa (link). And, corporate sponsors included Denny's, Google and Fannie Mae (link). Those at the "Patron" level got a "Web Link", something that Google might frown on.

[1] lulac.org/events/fti08.html
[2] lulac.org/events/convention/workshop08.html