Limbaugh guest host attacks Obama appointee as extremist for supporting comprehensive immigration reform, which Bush also supports

On The Rush Limbaugh Show, Mark Davis accused President-elect Barack Obama of choosing an “amnesty fetishist” in his appointment of Cecilia Muñoz, of the National Council of La Raza. But contrary to Davis' suggestion, Muñoz and NCLR's position in support of comprehensive immigration reform is far from radical, and shared in principle by members of Congress from both parties and by President Bush.

During the December 3 broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show, guest host Mark Davis asserted that Cecilia Muñoz, senior vice president of the Office of Research, Advocacy, and Legislation at the National Council of La Raza, and others at NCLR “are amnesty fetishists” and said, "[T]hat is what you get" in an Obama administration -- “a fan of amnesty.” In fact, the position taken by NCLR and Muñoz, who has been named by Obama to be the director of intergovernmental affairs in his administration, on immigration is far from radical, contrary to Davis' suggestion. NCLR strongly advocates passage of comprehensive immigration reform, a position that is shared in principle by members of Congress from both parties and by President Bush.

NCLR states on its website:

NCLR supports comprehensive immigration reform that includes the following principles: 1) a path to citizenship for the current undocumented population; 2) the creation of new legal channels for future immigrant workers; 3) a reduction of family immigration backlogs; and 4) the protection of civil rights and civil liberties. By legalizing immigrants who live, work, and contribute to life in the U.S., the U.S. could deal fairly with hardworking people who have responded to an economic reality ignored by the law. At the same time, the U.S. can become more secure by enforcing the new law and by allowing undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows and participate fully in their communities.

Bush supported a bipartisan bill that would have “creat[ed] a temporary worker program” and given undocumented immigrants who passed criminal background checks and remained employed the opportunity to apply for a green card in the future, and ultimately citizenship. NCLR sharply criticized the “Senate's failure to move a comprehensive immigration reform bill forward” when a cloture motion to cut off debate on that bill failed. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) once sponsored a bill with Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and several other Democrats and Republicans to create a temporary worker program and give illegal immigrants a path to apply for a green card and ultimately for citizenship. (As Media Matters for America has noted, during the presidential campaign, McCain abandoned his support for that bill, saying during CNN's January 30 Republican presidential primary debate that he would no longer vote for it if it came up for a vote in the Senate.)

From the December 3 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:

DAVIS: One quick tidbit in transition news. I believe a president-elect is judged by those he brings into the fold. So, joining the White House staff in the Obama administration will be Cecilia Muñoz. She currently serves as senior vice president for the Office of Research, Advocacy, and Legislation at the National Council of La Raza. The National Council of La Raza makes LULAC look reasonable. These folks are amnesty fetishists. Cecilia Muñoz, in her post, [reading] “advocated for federal legislation to give the estimated 12 million” -- this from CNS News, Penny Starr has the byline -- and I guess the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants -- yeah, that's estimated by people who lowball that figure -- to give them [reading] “a path to citizenship.” And she has been tapped for the job of director of Intergovernmental Affairs.

And again, it's funny -- I just offer this not to raise an eyebrow, I mean, hello, it's a fan of amnesty in the Obama administration. Whoa, that's shocking. This is what you get. I love the emails that I sometimes get. “Mark, I'm concerned that Janet Napolitano will not be, you know, strong enough on our borders.” Really? Really? Well, if enough Americans had been concerned about that, they would not have voted for Senator Obama. Of course, no -- no Homeland Security chief under President Obama is going to be ardent enough about protecting our borders. It's only in the last 18 months that President Bush's Homeland Security chief has been ardent enough about our borders.