Wall Street Journal
By Colleen McCain Nelson, Laura Meckler and Rebecca Ballhaus
March 10, 2016
Hillary
Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders faced off Wednesday, a day after he
scored a crucial win in the Michigan presidential primary, sparring over
immigration and making direct appeals
to Latino voters ahead of next week’s contest in Florida.
The
Democratic contenders delved into the details of immigration law,
invoking long-ago votes and critiquing the intricacies of each other’s
record. Mr. Sanders reflected on his immigrant
heritage, and both candidates cited spots in the other’s record that
are out of step with Latino voters and immigration rights activists.
Mrs.
Clinton was questioned about the right way to handle the influx of
Central American children at the southern border. Mr. Sanders was under
fire for his opposition to the 2007 immigration
bill that would have legalized people in the U.S. illegally.
Under
aggressive questioning from Univision anchor Jorge Ramos, Mrs. Clinton
promised not to deport children who are already living in the U.S., and
to target for deportation criminals and
those who pose a risk. Mr. Sanders also pledged not to send children
away.
But
the former secretary of state stuck to her position that children newly
entering the country illegally should be sent back if they don’t meet
qualifications for asylum or other programs
that would allow them to stay legally.
The
eighth Democratic presidential debate yielded few revelations, often
covering well-trod ground. Although the candidates disagreed sharply on
several issues, their tone was less combative
than in Sunday’s match-up in Michigan, in part because several of the
questions came from audience members.
Mrs.
Clinton was pressed to explain why many voters still have doubts about
whether they can trust her. In Michigan, about 60% of voters said they
viewed Mrs. Clinton as honest and trustworthy,
compared with 80% who said the same of Mr. Sanders, according to ABC
exit polls. In Mississippi, where Mrs. Clinton won 82% of the vote, 75%
said Mrs. Clinton was trustworthy, compared with 70% for Mr. Sanders.
“Obviously,
it’s painful for me to hear that, and I do take responsibility,” Mrs.
Clinton said. “When you’re in public life, even if you believe that it’s
not an opinion that you think is
fair or founded, you do have to take responsibility.”
She
said that would work to demonstrate that people could count on her,
adding that she’s not a natural politician like her husband or President
Barack Obama.
For
his part, Mr. Sanders tried to clarify the difference between an
“establishment politician,” which he has dubbed Mrs. Clinton, and a
“career politician” like himself. He said the difference
is what he has focused his career on, citing his independence from Wall
Street and the pharmaceutical and fossil fuel industries.
“You’ve
got to look at what the career is about,” Mr. Sanders said. “This is a
career that has stood up to every special interest in this country.”
During
the immigration discussion, the candidates were asked a question by a
woman who identified herself as a Guatemalan immigrant whose husband,
the father of her children, had been deported.
She asked the candidates what they would do to stop deportations and
reunite families. Mrs. Clinton praised the woman for having the
“courage” to ask the question and called for more Americans to hear such
stories so they could learn the “human cost” of deportation
policies.
Mrs.
Clinton also took several opportunities to refocus the discussion on
Mr. Sanders’s 2007 vote against the comprehensive immigration bill.
“Our
best chance was in 2007 when [the late Sen.] Ted Kennedy led the
charge,” she said. “I voted for that bill. Sen. Sanders voted against
it.”
Mr.
Sanders has said during this campaign that he opposed the bill because a
guest worker program included was akin to slavery. But the debate
moderators showed a video of him from the time,
where he cites concerns that the new workers will drive down wages.
Mr. Sanders replied that he worked to improve the program and was able to support the 2013 version of the bill.
Mrs.
Clinton shot back with a list of immigrant advocates who backed the
2007 version, saying they never would have supported “modern slavery.”
“That was one of the many excuses used not
to vote for the 2007 bill,” she said.
Mrs.
Clinton also pointed to two 2006 votes Mr. Sanders cast while he was in
the House, running for the Senate. One would have allowed the
indefinite detention of immigrants pending deportation.
The second was a largely symbolic measure meant to protect the
Minutemen, a self-styled, private patrol that aimed to prevent illegal
crossings on the southern border.
Mr.
Sanders didn’t respond directly to the assertion on indefinite
detentions. He said the Minuteman bill simply “codified existing
legislation.”
At
Wednesday’s Democratic primary debate in Miami, Hillary Clinton and
Bernie Sanders were asked if Republican contender Donald Trump was a
racist. Here are their responses. Photo: Getty
During
Wednesday’s debate, both candidates declined to label GOP front-runner
Donald Trump a “racist” in response to a direct question about his
references to Mexican immigrants as rapists
and drug dealers.
Still,
they hurled several other criticisms Mr. Trump’s way. Mrs. Clinton
attacked his “trafficking in prejudice and paranoia,” and said, to loud
applause, “You don’t make America great by
getting rid of everything that made America great.” She added that she
had been the first to call out Mr. Trump, saying that when he began with
the offensive rhetoric, she said “basta.”
Mr. Sanders recalled Mr. Trump’s efforts in the so-called birther movement to “delegitimize the president.”
He
noted that his own father was born in Poland, yet “nobody has ever
asked me for my birth certificate,” and that was probably because of the
“color of my skin.”
“The
American people are never going to elect a president who insults
Mexicans, who insults Muslims, who insults women, who insults
African-Americans,” he said.
The
debate came on the heels of Mr. Sanders’s unexpected, narrow win in
Michigan, a victory that provided him with a burst of momentum and all
but guaranteed that the Democratic primary wouldn’t
end anytime soon.
Now, Democrats are bracing for a prolonged fight that could stretch through the spring and into early summer.
As
Mr. Sanders tried to make the most of his moment, calling his Michigan
win a “major political” upset, Mrs. Clinton sought to reassert herself
as the front-runner. She retains a commanding
lead in pledged delegates.
Mrs.
Clinton, faced with questions about her use of a private email server
during her time as secretary state, said: “I made a mistake,” adding
that “it wasn’t prohibited.”
Mrs.
Clinton’s records management during her tenure at the State Department
has spawned lawsuits, a Federal Bureau of Investigation inquiry, an
internal State Department probe, an intelligence
community review and congressional inquiries.
During
the debate, Mrs. Clinton dismissed questions about whether she would
end her campaign if investigations into her records eventually resulted
in an indictment. “Oh, for goodness—I’m
not even answering that question,” Mrs. Clinton said.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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