Fox News Latino
October 15, 2015
Drawing
a distinction between herself and President Barack Obama, Hillary
Clinton said on Thursday that if she wins the White House, she would not
use mass deportation
or separate families while pursuing immigration reform.
“The
evidence is clear, comprehensive immigration reform, where we bring
people out of the shadows, will be good for the economy, [and] will
raise wages,” said Clinton
in a question-and-answer session in San Antonio with the president of
the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
“I
will not be breaking up families under deportation,” Clinton said. “I
don’t think that the way to do that is to undermine the family
structure, and undermine the productivity
of people who are (contributing) to our economy.”
Clinton’s
appearance at the chamber event marks the fifth such question and
answer session with presidential candidates that the head of the group,
Javier Palomarez, launched
this year.
Her
appearance came exactly one week after GOP candidate and frontrunner,
Donald Trump, was to have participated in a session with the chamber but
abruptly backed out
days before.
With the exception of Clinton’s question-and-answer, all have been held in Washington D.C., where the chamber is headquartered.
Clinton
frequently bashed the Republican presidential candidates for what she
said was the hostility toward Latinos and immigrants in their rhetoric
and proposed policies.
“It
has just added to the ongoing problem we face [in the country] that it
is O.K., still, in American to be condemning some groups of people with
this kind of rhetoric,”
she said, adding that hostile talk encourages some people “to act in a
way that is prejudiced and hurtful.”
Many
people criticized Trump recently after a supporter at one of his
campaign rallies maligned Muslims, and the candidate failed to take
issue with it during the rally.
Many people also criticized Republican presidential candidates for not
assailing – or taking too long to condemn – Trump for portraying some
Mexican immigrants as drug dealers and rapists when he launched his
campaign.
“Anyone
in a position of leadership…does have a responsibility to call people
out…when they say Mexican immigrants are drug dealers and rapists.
Somebody needs to say
‘Basta!’”
Clinton said that as president she would work on reforming parts of immigration from the first day.
She
said she would streamline the process for applying for programs that
Obama implemented – through executive action – that would spare some
undocumented immigrants from
deportation for a few years, and allow them to obtain work permits,
driver’s licenses and some federal benefits.
Clinton
recalled being part of church youth program that involved looking after
the children of migrant workers while their parents worked. She
recalled seeing the parents
return every day in “a ramshackle bus.”
“When
those little children saw that bus they started to jump up and down,”
Clinton said. “The parents, as tired as they were, were bending over and
scooping them up.”
She recalled telling her mother: “They’re just like we are. They’re just families like we are.”
Asked
by Palomarez if she would pick Housing and Urban Development Secretary
Julian Castro – the former mayor of San Antonio – as vice president,
Clinton demurred.
She sang his praises, however, suggesting she’d like, at the very least, to have him in her administration.
“I
think really highly of him,” she said, adding that she was thrilled to
have received his endorsement shortly before. “I’m really looking hard
at him for anything because
that’s how good he is.”
Clinton
added that she would work to make it easier for Latino small business
owners to find information about launching ventures and accessing
services.
She also praised Latinas for starting businesses at a higher rate than other Americans.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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