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the fear of disturbing human remains. • ___
For top Obama aide Munoz, immigration overhaul would be culmination of long journey
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- Cecilia Munoz, President Barack Obama's chief domestic policy adviser, keeps a framed letter from the late Democratic senator and immigration advocate Ted Kennedy in her West Wing office. • "We didn't complete the journey, but we'll get there," Kennedy wrote in 2007 following the collapse of bipartisan efforts to overhaul the nation's fractured immigration system. • For Munoz, a veteran of that fight and many earlier ones, completing the journey has never felt more possible. As head of the White House Domestic Policy Council, it's Munoz leading Obama's effort to break through years of partisan gridlock and provide a pathway to citizenship for millions of people living illegally in the United States. • "There is a definite lift in her step," said Valerie Jarrett, Obama's senior adviser. "But she's not taking anything for granted." • Sharp shifts in the political landscape have put an immigration overhaul tantalizingly close for Munoz and the president. Hispanics made up 10 percent of the electorate in the November election, and Obama won two-thirds of their votes, in part because of the conservative immigration positions staked out by Republicans during (Continued on page 33)
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