Clinton to call for a 'full and equal' path to citizenship in Nevada

IamAman · 12:08 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/05/politi...ration-nevada/

I'm sure some activists will still not be happy with this. It won't ever be enough for them compared to their imaginary candidate that will not just provide a pathway to citizenship, but bring back everybody that was ever deported and just leave the borders open to Mexico.

Quote:

Las Vegas, Nevada (CNN)In what will be her most comprehensive comments on immigration reform as a presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton will use a roundtable on Tuesday in Nevada to argue that the only "true solution" for reform is "nothing less than a full and equal path to citizenship."

Clinton will cast immigration reform as a family issue, an aide said Tuesday, and will focus on the need to find a legislative fix, strengthen the United States border and bring "millions of hard-working people out of the shadows and into the formal economy so they can pay taxes and contribute to our nation's prosperity."

Pushing reform, however, is as much a political bet as it is policy for the newly-minted presidential candidate who has already made the issue part of her "four fights" core. A number of Clinton's campaign aides feel immigration will be a wedge issue in the 2016 general election and are encouraged by the fact that Clinton has performed better than most Democrats -- including President Barack Obama in 2008 -- with Hispanic voters.

Clinton will say Tuesday "that we cannot settle for proposals that provide hard-working people with merely a second-class status," the aide said, noting a subtle knock against Republican hopefuls -- like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio -- who have backed legalization efforts but not full citizenship.

The appearance will be Clinton's opening salvo on immigration, not her detailed policy rollout, the aide added. That won't come until late summer or early fall.

Immigration has been a highly motivating issue for Latino voters in the past and Clinton's campaign will look to keep that up by highlighting where Clinton differs with Republicans on the issue.

"Whoever the Republican nominee is, they will have to go through the primary," said one Clinton aide. "And at best, they will have to support second class status for immigrants in order to get through that primary, which is a position that will be untenable in a general election."

Hispanics have been one of the fastest growing voting blocs nationwide for years. In 2008, according to Pew, 19.5% of all eligible voters were Hispanic. That number shot up to 23.7% in 2012 and is expected to grow even more by 2016.

Nevada is 30% Hispanic, according to Census data, making it the first early state in the nomination process with a significant Latino population.

"Immigration is one of the most important and motivating issues for Latinos," said Jorge Neri, Clinton's organizing director in Nevada and a veteran of President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign in the state. "Latinos are more likely to go out into the streets to fight for immigration. It mobilizes people."

Despite performing well with Hispanic voters, immigration is a sensitive issue for Clinton and one that she has continually missteped on since 2008.

Providing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants led to one of the biggest gaffes of her failed 2008 campaign when, at a primary debate, she took both sides of the issue in the span of a few minutes. Clinton's 2016 campaign looked to clean up that issue early, telling reporters last month that Clinton "supports state policies to provide driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants."

After her 2008 gaffe, Clinton responded by forcefully calling for immigration reform, pledging to enact a pathway to legalization -- not citizenship -- in her first 100 days of office.

But after losing in 2008 and spending four years separated from domestic politics as secretary of state, Clinton was confronted by an array of new immigration issues on her 2014 book tour and midterm election blitz.

At the Iowa Steak Fry, activists confronted her about undocumented immigrants brought to the United States by their parents. At an event in Maryland, waves of protestors heckled and taunted the former secretary of state. And at a fundraiser for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, protestors chanted "undocumented, unafraid" at she spoke.

She didn't impress the activists with her answers, either. Laura Martin, communications director for Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, said activists were disappointed when Clinton told an undocumented immigrant in Iowa that the way to help on the issue was to "elect more Democrats."

RELATED: In Iowa, DREAMers confront Clinton

"People don't want to hear that," she said. "They want to know what they have to do to keep their family together and they want to hear you have a real concrete plan."

Clinton also told CNN in 2014 that the growing number of unaccompanied minors on the border from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala "should be sent back" and "reunited with their families."

That dismayed Cristina Jimenez, managing director for United We Dream, the pro-immigration group that organized many of the protests against Clinton, who felt the former secretary of state tried to "play it very safe" on immigration in 2014.

"I think that raised very serious concerns for our community," Jimenez said about Clinton's CNN answer, "which was one of the reasons that we prioritized wanting to know where she was really on these issues."

After Obama issued a long-delayed executive action to overhaul the nation's immigration system in November 2014, Clinton offered his plan a firm backing and is expected to do the same Tuesday. But going into the 2016 election, activists like Jimenez want to hear much more.

"It is just not enough to say you support immigration reform," Jimenez said. "If you want to send a message to the Latino and the immigrant community it is not enough to just say you support immigration reform."

She added: "How is she going to be different from the other presidential hopefuls out there like Jeb Bush, Sen. Rubio and others?"

2Face · 05-05-2015, 11:32 PM

Umm yeah. We'll just stick to DACA and DAPA lol. These clowns are not doing anything.

Pianoswithoutfaith · 05-05-2015, 11:53 PM

as long she has no plans of touching DACA, it looks shes our best hope now

DACA-IR-DA · 05-06-2015, 02:03 AM

If Clinton does not get elected. Who is our 2nd best hope in Democrat?

For GOP, Bush is the only hope right?

pink · 05-06-2015, 02:22 AM

She better not backtrack if she wins the election, lol.

conscientiatesla87 · 05-06-2015, 03:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DACA-IR-DA

If Clinton does not get elected. Who is our 2nd best hope in Democrat?

For GOP, Bush is the only hope right?

I think you are trolling, he said multiple times that he will take away the executive actions.

Demise · 05-06-2015, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pink

She better not backtrack if she wins the election, lol.

Hopefully, I really do not want another Obama who first will campaign on promise of immigration reform, then suddenly get amnesia once elected.

Take a second to realize that if Obama was faring a little better with Hispanics in 2012 there wouldn't be a DACA. I don't know about you - but doing the right thing for the wrong reason doesn't really cut it for the president of the United States.

dtrt09 · 05-06-2015, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Demise

Hopefully, I really do not want another Obama who first will campaign on promise of immigration reform, then suddenly get amnesia once elected.

Take a second to realize that if Obama was faring a little better with Hispanics in 2012 there wouldn't be a DACA. I don't know about you - but doing the right thing for the wrong reason doesn't really cut it for the president of the United States.

Exactly. The President sets the standard.

DACA helped - helps - but, 600,000/11,000,000 was very little, too late. I do think Clinton has the confidence and experience to not give a rat's a** what Republicans think of her (unlike Obama), so she would go all out and negotiate from the top, instead of starting with merely deferred deportation and *try* to get something better.

Also, we are running out of time for the other programs. It's already May; the next hearing isn't until July, and assuming it takes about 2-3 months for them to decide, it will be Sept/Oct before we can apply. If the administration wins the appeal.

What is plan B if the administration loses? Take it to the Supreme Court - then you are looking at the last year of the Obama presidency with not a eDACA/DAPA recipient to account for.

But, really, why hasn't any reporter just asked the White House why can they just issue the 90-day comment period and publish in the Federal Register?

dtrt09 · 05-06-2015, 05:11 PM

If Hillary is to be believed, and everything she's said so far sounds really good, AND is legally doable, wait for it...

Why can't the Obama admnistration implement HER immigration fixes today?

Pianoswithoutfaith · 05-06-2015, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by conscientiatesla87

I think you are trolling, he said multiple times that he will take away the executive actions.

This is banned user DAuser

For those of you who arent not aware of this guy, this guy came here and was the most pessimist user here, comes a new revision of Dream Act (that didnt pass of course) that aged him out, and he developed this optimistic persona posting DA will pass (despite the obvious fact the articles saying how the dream was long dead). Hes later admitting of doing this because he felt it was unfair the last Dream Act aged him. In reality, he did this to mock fellow users here who really didnt know better of him even so enjoying our disappointed, the one he felt when he was aged out.

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Clinton to call for a 'full and equal' path to citizenship in Nevada