03/14/2016 Tungol Law Headline News "Political Promises Not to Deport Children. Should We Cheer?"
Julianne Hing writes in The Nation:
Univision anchor Jorge Ramos got what he came for at last Wednesday night’s Democratic debate. After aggressive questioning, Ramos compelled both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders to pledge not to deport children if either is elected president. The candidates made news with this stunning campaign commitment, that’s for sure.
This is how it went down:
RAMOS: And can you promise that you won’t deport immigrants who don’t have a criminal record?
CLINTON: Here’s what I can promise, Jorge; I can promise that I will do everything possible to provide due process.
RAMOS: But will you deport children?
CLINTON: Let me say this. I would give every person, but particularly children, due process to have their story told. And a lot of children will, of course, have very legitimate stories under our law to be able to stay.
They went back and forth a few more times, and Clinton spoke at length about the distinction she makes between deporting undocumented immigrants who are here and those who have arrived, especially in recent years due to the child migrant crisis, seeking asylum.
CLINTON: Yes, you can because the question you were asking me were about children seeking asylum. And we have laws. That was the most critical thing I said. Under our laws. I would like to see those laws changed. I would like see added to them, a guaranteed counsel and other support for children.
CLINTON: But if you are asking about everyone who is already here, undocumented immigrants, the 11-12 million who are living here, my priorities are to deport violent criminals, terrorists, and anyone who threatens our safety. So I do not have the same policy as the current administration does. I think it’s important that we move to our comprehensive immigration reform, but at the same time, stop the raids, stop the roundups, stop the deporting of people who are living here doing their lives, doing their jobs, and that’s my priority.
Hilary was very careful with her words and relented on the issue with lawyerly sophistication during the Democratic Debate. nyone who’s paid attention to the immigration debate of the last half decade knows that President Obama is still paying for campaign promise he made to get immigration reform passed. More on the story here.
...
