At a speech on immigration in Las Vegas, Nevada on Tuesday, May 5th, Democratic Presidential hopeful and former U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, did just what President Barack Obama did in 2007. She announced she is all in for a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States.
So how exactly is she going to accomplish this? She’s offered no real details except to boost that as President she will to take executive action much more broadly than even President Obama has done.
As Clinton put it, she will defer the deportations of those who have strong bonds to the community through family and work and she will make conditions “more humane” for immigrant detainees. All good news to the many suffering in silence.
“If Congress refuses to act,” Mrs. Clinton vowed, “As president I will do everything possible under the law to go even further. There are more people — like many parents of Dreamers and others with deep ties and contributions to our communities — who deserve a chance to stay. I’ll fight for them, too.”
If you’re thinking we’ve heard this song and dance before, you are right. Every Democratic Presidential hopeful mostly sings this same tune and entices immigrants into the one step, two step waltz with them.
That is until they get your vote, and then the tune changes or stops all together. Once they become President the tune then becomes: “Congress has to pass comprehensive immigration reform, the President can’t do anything about it within the constitution.”
So the Clinton song and dance in Vegas should be taken for what it’s worth – a good show. Maybe Clinton read my recent column advising her on how to win the Presidency with immigrant voters and has suddenly moved from the women dodging questions from Dreamers last fall on the way forward with the non-committal: “Elect more Democrats” to this new stance.
But even though she’s suddenly changed her tune, she certainly has missed the part where you tell the truth and nothing but the truth on how this ambitious plan to give citizenship to millions living without status in this country will happen.
We already know just how far President Obama’s talk has gotten us, and where his executive action has left the young undocumented and their parents. Absolutely no where but the courts!
Now Hillary Clinton is Tweeting this same song; except her cover is much grander and more dramatic.
Hopefully immigrant voters have learnt their lesson and will ask the tough questions like – how exactly will this happen and what across the aisle plans do you have to make it happen?
These are important questions to ask especially since President Obama’s promises have led to naught and nothing but the most deportations under any U.S. Presidency.
Still Clinton’s call for a citizenship path sets her apart from any and all Republicans who are in, or likely to enter, the 2016 race as the New York Times points out.
Now she must answer how much resources, leverage and will, is she willing to commit to get the job done!
The writer is CMO of Hard Beat Communications, which owns the brands News Americas Now, CaribPR Wire and Invest Caribbean Now.
