Las Vegas Review-Journal (Nevada)
By Colton Lochhead
August 15, 2016
Nevada Democratic senate and congressional candidates celebrated the four-year anniversary of DACA by condemning their Republican rivals’ positions on immigration.
U.S. Senate candidate Catherine Cortez Masto and congressional candidates Ruben Kihuen and Jacky Rosen took turns speaking about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals during a Monday morning press conference at Del Sol High School that was part of a Hillary Clinton campaign event in Las Vegas.
DACA is a federal program implemented through executive action by President Barak Obama in 2012 that grants work permits to “DREAMers” — young people who were brought into the U.S. illegally as children. DREAM stands for Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors.
All three candidates harked back to their parents’ or grandparents’ immigrant roots, linked their opponents to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his views and supported Clinton’s presidential bid.
Rosen, criticized the immigration stance of Danny Tarkanian, her opponent in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District. Tarkanian’s campaign website says he, like Trump, favors building a wall between the United States and Mexico and would vote against amnesty — or instantly granting citizenship to illegal immigrants.
“My tea party opponent wants to build a wall, deport people and break apart families,” Rosen said. “He wants to permanently undo DACA and DAPA. He is totally against bipartisan immigration reform.”
DAPA, or the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents, is similar to DACA, but affects illegal immigrants whose children are in the country legally.
Responding to Rosen’s charges, Tarkanian said in an emailed statement the country needs “a safe and secure border, real visa enforcement and strong vetting procedures to ensure our national security.”
He said, “Harry Reid’s handpicked candidate Jacky Rosen is now on the record supporting an executive order allowing illegal immigrants to remain in the U.S. Jacky Rosen is a status quo defender who is out of step with Nevadans who want real immigration reform to protect all citizens.”
Rosen called to screen immigrants to determine which, if any, had been arrested for violent offenses.
“I really believe that 99.9 percent want the best for their family. They want to be productive citizens,” Rosen said. “We need to take care of the people that are here and give them a way to become full and equal citizens.”
Cortez Masto and Kihuen made similar comments about their Republican opponents’ voting record on immigration in Congress, Rep. Joe Heck and Rep. Cresent Hardy, respectively.
Heck and Hardy voted against expanding the program in January 2015, but also voted against a measure to defund the program. Both congressmen favor a pathway to citizenship and do not support mass deportations.
In all, 13,485 have applied and 12,268 have been accepted into DACA since the program started in 2012, the most recent statistics from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services show.
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