Clinton: Nation needs to fix broken immigration system

[webfact]

Clinton: Nation needs to fix broken immigration system
By KEN THOMAS

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that any immigration overhaul must include a path to "full and equal citizenship," drawing a sharp contrast with Republicans who have promoted providing a legal status or blocked efforts in Congress to address the nation's immigration system.

"This is where I differ with everybody on the Republican side. Make no mistake, today not a single Republican candidate, announced or potential, is clearly and consistently supporting a path to citizenship. Not one," Clinton said, adding, "When they talk about legal status, that is code for second-class status."

Clinton's remarks during her first campaign stop in Nevada underscored Democrats' efforts to box-in Republican presidential candidates who have opposed a comprehensive bill including a pathway to citizenship. Congressional Republicans have said the changes must be made incrementally, beginning with stronger border security.

The issue of immigration resonates with many Hispanic Americans, who backed President Barack Obama by wide margins over Republican Mitt Romney in 2012 and helped the president's re-election campaign capture several hard-fought swing states, including Florida, Colorado and Nevada.

Clinton's pitch to Latino voters came as two of her potential Republican rivals, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, have courted Hispanics and talked about ways to overhaul the immigration system while opposing Obama's executive actions last year to shield millions of immigrants from deportation.

Obama's executive actions loom large in the immigration debate. The orders included the expansion of a program protecting young immigrants from deportation if they were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Another provision extended deportation protections to parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents who have been in the country for several years.

Twenty-six states, including Nevada, have sued to block the plan, and a New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals panel heard arguments on the challenges last month. A ruling is pending.

Clinton, the leading Democrat in the presidential race, said she supported Obama's executive actions and said she would "defend" them against Republican opposition while seeking ways to expand them if elected president. Her message was aimed at so-called Dreamers, young people who have been protected from deportation by Obama's executive actions.

"I don't understand how anyone can look at these young people and think that we should break up more families or turn away young people with talent," she said. "So I will fight for comprehensive immigration reform and a path to citizenship."

Clinton also said she was worried about the use of family detention centers to hold women and children caught up in the immigration system, which activists have said is inhumane.

Her framing of the immigration debate has been closely watched by Latinos as Obama has struggled to pass reform legislation through Congress. And her remarks were received enthusiastically by immigration advocates.

"She called immigration reform central to her campaign and took a series of positions that will make Republican heads explode and Republican candidates shudder," said Frank Sharry, the founder and executive director of America's Voice, an immigration advocacy group.

Clinton has been tripped up by immigration policy before. During the 2008 primaries, she initially vacillated on and then opposed allowing immigrants living in the U.S. illegally to obtain driver's licenses. Her campaign said last month she now supports state policies that allow driver's licenses under those circumstances. Last fall, some young Hispanics heckled her at a few campaign events, urging her to pressure Obama to issue the executive orders.

Preparing for a debate over immigration, Republicans have sought to portray Clinton as opportunistic on the issue.

"Obviously she's pretty good at pandering and flipping and flopping and doing and saying anything she needs to say," Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said during an event with Hispanic Republicans in Denver.

Seated in the library at Rancho High School, which has a predominantly Hispanic student body, Clinton heard from several young immigrants, most of whom came to the U.S. as children and received legal status under Obama's executive action. Many said they were worried about their families and work opportunities.

Betsaida Frausto, the top-ranked student in her junior class at Rancho, said she hoped to attend Yale University and study for a medical degree. But she said she worries that her uncertain status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program would prevent her from working after graduating.

Juan Salazar, a native of Guadalajara, Mexico, who crossed the border at age 7, said he struggled to find work before starting a pool cleaning company with his father after receiving work papers through the executive actions. He said he fears that his father, who remains undocumented, could end up being deported.

The events marked Clinton's first campaign appearances in Nevada, which holds an early contest on the Democratic primary calendar and is expected to be a general election battleground with Republicans. Clinton won the 2008 Democratic caucuses there, but Obama came away with a slight edge in the number of delegates because of his strength in rural areas.

Later Tuesday, Clinton attended a suburban Las Vegas fundraiser hosted by Brian Greenspun, a college classmate of her husband, former President Bill Clinton. He also is the chairman of Greenspun Media, which publishes the Las Vegas Sun.

Clinton is scheduled to spend the rest of the week in California at fundraisers in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Silicon Valley.
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Associated Press writers Lisa Lerer in Washington and Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-05-06

[arjunadawn]

There is really little intellectual value or honesty in saying the immigration system in America is broken. Until such a time as it is enforced, it can hardly be said to be broken. Indeed, demanding the system that one ilk of politicians is in constant need of repair is the falsity that gives Americans the sense of 3 steps forward one 1 step back, decade after decade. Its not fixed because if the redistributionist self loathing plans of the left. Hillary Clinton is one more peddling the same jackassery.

[quandow]

any immigration overhaul must include a path to "full and equal citizenship,"

This is SUCH a misguiding statement. There is already a VERY clear path to full citizenship in the U.S. What I've never been able to clearly understand is why the U.S. doesn't create a worker's visa, readily available to any and all Mexican farm workers.

What is the REAL benefit for politicians to keep beating this dead horse? There MUST be backdoor money involved in it, but for the life of me, I can't figure it out. The migrants will STILL work for slave wages as it's preferable to NO wages back home, and it's been demonstrated that, if Agribusiness paid these migrant workers a decent wage, the average price of produce would increase a mere $.02 per pound. What is the hidden value of blocking a common-sense solution? Please, if you know, share it here!

[ToddinChonburi]

To make a long story short, I stayed at a hotel in Kansas city,MO and found out they paid the migrant workers $2 dollars a room to clean and they made them stay in a room so they could wake them up in the middle of the night to clean rooms. So 2 women would clean one room for $2 bucks. Who do you complain to when you are here illegally. The railroad workers and a LTL Trucking company stayed at this place. They would be coming and going at all hours.

[maidee]

the meat & agricultural big business is abusing those cheap illegal labour

jobs americans don't want to do, low paid, dangerous ...

let's see if they kick them all out ... same same for the future of thailand, if one day they deceide they don't need farangs / tourist money anymore

some basic rights of farangs, married to thais & working here, paying taxes , what you get in return ?

[Expat1]

Please someone shoot this evil woman. I'll take a whip round to cover costs if it will help. Lets give the poor average American citizen a break and dump her at sea.

[thaibeachlovers]

Sadly, bribing the usual suspects seems to work in politics.

The only chance the US has to get rid of this corrupt woman is if she is found guilty of something, like illegally deleting her e mails or malfeasance with her foundation.

[Chicog]

Please someone shoot this evil woman. I'll take a whip round to cover costs if it will help. Lets give the poor average American citizen a break and dump her at sea.

Do you think you might be able to lift the debate above the knuckle dragging level?

[Scott]

An inflammatory post has been removed.

[Srikcir]

any immigration overhaul must include a path to "full and equal citizenship,"

This is SUCH a misguiding statement. There is already a VERY clear path to full citizenship in the U.S. What I've never been able to clearly understand is why the U.S. doesn't create a worker's visa, readily available to any and all Mexican farm workers.

What is the REAL benefit for politicians to keep beating this dead horse? There MUST be backdoor money involved in it, but for the life of me, I can't figure it out. The migrants will STILL work for slave wages as it's preferable to NO wages back home, and it's been demonstrated that, if Agribusiness paid these migrant workers a decent wage, the average price of produce would increase a mere $.02 per pound. What is the hidden value of blocking a common-sense solution? Please, if you know, share it here! alt=blink.png>

White Republicans fear a minority voter base that could account for more than 20% of national and state votes?

[Jingthing]

She's expecting to run against Jeb Bush or Rubio both who have some appeal to Latinos.

She needs to counter their appeal to the Latino vote.

If they manage to win a lot of that vote, she loses.

Less important if it's Walker.

Anyway, what do you expect from a democrat? Of course any democrat's position will be to the left of any republicans. Democrats are more liberal on these issues as a rule.

Edited May 6, 2015 by Jingthing

[thaibeachlovers]

She's expecting to run against Jeb Bush or Rubio both who have some appeal to Latinos.

She needs to counter their appeal to the Latino vote.

If they manage to win a lot of that vote, she loses.

Less important if it's Walker.

Anyway, what do you expect from a democrat? Of course any democrat's position will be to the left of any republicans. Democrats are more liberal on these issues as a rule.

When did bribing the poor people become a "left" characteristic? Used to be that socialists belived in nationalising essential services and a fair go for everybody regardless of the accident of birth. Now it's equated with giving stuff to people too lazy to get an education and unemployable.