AP
By Eric Werner
May 11, 2015
Immigration
activists are trying to use Hillary Rodham Clinton's stance on
immigration to pressure President Barack Obama to do more for
immigrants.
Clinton
said last week that if elected president, she would expand on the
executive actions Obama took last fall to grant legal work permits to
millions of immigrants
in this country illegally.
The
White House insists that Obama went as far as he legally could. But
Clinton said she would do more than her fellow Democrat, including
extending deportation protections
to the parents of so-called "Dreamers" — immigrants brought illegally
to this country as youths.
Activists
with the #Not1More Campaign said Monday they are sending a letter to
the White House urging Obama to follow Clinton's lead.
"President
Obama could make the changes to the immigration enforcement system
outlined by Clinton, now," said the letter provided to The Associated
Press. "If Hillary
Clinton and the Democratic Party believe in these changes as more than
talking points, they should move for President Obama to enact them
immediately with the urging and vocal support of his party."
Immigration
is emerging as an important issue in the presidential campaign, with
Clinton using it to differentiate herself from her Republican opponents,
who oppose the
unilateral steps Obama took.
But
Clinton's comments also opened a split with the current president of
her own party, one that immigration activists hope to use to their
advantage.
White
House press secretary Josh Earnest, when asked about Clinton's
comments, said that Obama had already gone as far as he could.
"The
president was determined to use as much of his authority as he could to
try to bring some much needed accountability to our broken immigration
system. And that was
reflected in the announcement that he made," Earnest said.
The
activists' letter also pointed to comments Clinton made questioning
conditions in immigrant detention centers, and urged Obama to end
detentions of vulnerable populations
including pregnant women and transgender people.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
No comments:
Post a Comment