Hillary Clinton: "Path To Full Citizenship" For Immigrants

In remarks at an Hispanic youth roundtable yesterday in Las Vegas, Nevada, Hillary Clinton went big (er, "grande") in her position on immigration reform:

In perhaps the strongest remarks on immigration of her entire career, Hillary Clinton vowed Tuesday evening to “do everything I possibly can” to help immigrants – including going beyond President Obama’s executive actions to extend deportation relief to undocumented immigrants.

“We can’t wait any longer for a path to full equal citizenship,” Clinton declared during a roundtable meeting with young, undocumented immigrants at a high school here.

Clinton distinguished herself from Republicans on the issue and made a personal appeal for reform. “This is where I differ from everybody on the Republican side,” she said. “Make no mistake. Today, not a single Republican candidate – announced or potential — is clearly and consistently supporting a path to citizenship. Not one.”

Republicans who do support comprehensive reform typically favor a pathway to legal status, but Clinton said anything short of full citizenship is “code for second-class status.”

The Democratic presidential candidate hit almost every issue on the immigration reform activist’s wish-list. She called for more humane detention practices, making it easier for families to plead their case for leniency, and took on the private prison industry. And crucially, she said she supported President Obama’s actions to shield millions of immigrants from deportation – and promised to go do even more.  “If Congress continues to refuse to act, as president, I would do everything possible under the law to go even further,” she said.

Recall, if you will, that the 2013 immigration reform bill that was passed in the Senate 62-38 has been left to die by nativist House Republicans under the leadership cowardice of Speaker John "Mr. Tangerine Man" Boehner (R-Eunuch).  As Clinton points out, when they're not raising the canard of "secure the border," Republicans often try to finesse the issue by calling for a path to "legal status," while making sure their base knows that "amnesty" (i.e., a path to full citizenship) is off the table.

This has to be one of the defining issues of the campaign and one that, fortunately, Democrats are on the right side, not only of history but of humanity.