Hillary Clinton took a swing at President Barack Obama for being too strict on illegal immigrants. Clinton said, in an interview with Telemundo, that she would be less strict if she becomes president of the United States.
“I believe in comprehensive immigration reform. And it would include in my plan a path to citizenship, which I think is absolutely essential. That is the goal. But if we still are f– working toward it, fighting for it, then I want to do everything in my power not only to continue– the executive orders that– President Obama has put forth, D.A.P.A., and D.A.C.A., and the kinds of changes that he has made,” Clinton said in response to a question about how much further she’d go on executive action than Obama.
“But I want to do more on an individual basis by putting more resources, more personnel into the system to try to help as many people as possible get a different status. I will not be deporting parents. I will not be breaking up families. I will not be doing what we’ve seen too much of, which is tryin’ to, you know, make immigrants the scapegoat for everything that people are concerned about in the country.
“And the best way to do that is to build on what we have accomplished, keep fightin’ for comprehensive immigration reform, and then use the tools that exist for more individual determinations about how to keep more people who are hard working, contributing people in our country while we still– fight over the comprehensive immigration reform– plan.”
When asked about the legality of her plan, Clinton said, “Well, it has to be legal. There is no doubt about that. And I am a strong supporter of what the president did because it was legal. It was necessary. It was important. And I believe it was rooted in the presidential authority that he relied on. But even within existing immigration law, there are provisions for trying to determine– who can stay in the country, to try to change the deportation– rules and regulations.
“That’s within existing authority within the executive branch. I’m gonna look for every legal way I can find to make sure that we don’t intimidate and terrify hard working immigration families. That they know that they will not have to worry about a knock on the door or a raid on their workplace. Because I just don’t think that’s the right thing to do.”
