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Hillary Clinton on Immigration
"12 to 14 million [illegal immigrants] are here. What will we do with them? Well, I hear the voices from the other side of the aisle. I hear the voices on TV and radio. And they are living in some other universe. Talking about deporting people, rounding them up. I don't agree with that and I don't think it's practical.... For the vast majority of people who are here, we will give you a path to legalization if you meet the following conditions: pay a fine because you entered illegally, be willing to pay back taxes over time, try to learn English...and then you wait in line."
"Everyone of use knows somebody who is here illegally....we all know illegal immigrants. So what we want to do is to say look we can listen to the demagogs who act as though it is in America's tradition of values or practical for us to try to round up and deport everybody. In order to round up and deport 12-14 million people you have to hire tens of thousands more federal law enforcement officials, at the cost in excess of 200 billion dollar. You would have to have 200 thousand buses waiting to convoy, them on a 17 hundred miles long convoy, to get people across the border. I practically have tried to think this through. Imagine how you would feel the first time a federal law enforcement official knocked on your door, here in New Hampshire the live free or die state, and said we want to come in to see if you have an illegal immigrants living or working here. That would last a nano second here in America.... I don't think it would work. I would ask everyone who is here illegally to come out of the shadows and I wold register them. If they had committed a crime in this country or the country they came form they would be deported immediately, no questions asked. The vast majority that remained....would be told they had to do the following to stay here: 1. They would have to pay a fine for crossing our boarders and staying illegally. 2. They do have to pay all back taxes over time, not all at once, because that would be too much of an impossibility. 3. They have to try and learn english 4. They have to wait in line, and can't skip the line over people who have been here legally waiting to be processed for citizenship. But if at the end of 10, 11,12 years there are still here, they are still working, and they are still productive, then I would make them eligible for citizenship."
"While I categorically oppose any program that grants unconditional amnesty for illegal immigration, I do support providing undocumented workers with the opportunity to earn legal status in this country. For those who work hard, pay their taxes, continue to obey the law, and demonstrate a commitment to this country, the opportunity to eventually earn citizenship should also be available."
"I believe we have to, as part of comprehensive immigration reform, create a path to earned legalization and I will continue to stand for that and advocate for that."
"I'm in favor of comprehensive immigration reform, which includes tightening our border security, sanctioning employers to employ undocumented immigrants, helping our communities deal with the costs that come from illegal immigration, getting the 12 million or so immigrants out of the shadows. That's very important to me. After 9/11, we've got to know who's in this country. And then giving them a chance to pay a fine, pay back taxes, learn English and stand in line to be eligible for a legal status in this country."
"I do support providing undocumented workers with the opportunity to earn legal status in this country."
Voted YES on the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, which established an immigration guest-worker program
Voted YES to strike the Y nonimmigrant guestworker program from the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007
[We] absolutely cannot accept a guest worker program without strongest labor protections and no exceptions whatsoever.
Voted NO on the Coburn Amendment (SA 1311) to S. 1348 to increase border control by requiring: construction of the border fence; implementation of US VISIT (entry-exit system); and biometric identification documents. The Coburn Amendment failed by a vote of 42 to 54.
Q: As president of the United States, would you commit tonight that you would finish the fence and speed up the construction, or do you think it's time for a president of the United States to raise his or her hand and say, "You know what? Wait a minute. Let's think about this again. Do we really want to do this?" CLINTON: Well, I think both Senator Obama and I voted for that as part of the immigration debate. And having been along the border for the last week or so - in fact, last night I was at the University of Texas at Brownsville - and this is how absurd this has become under the Bush administration. Because, you know, there is a smart way to protect our borders, and there is a dumb way to protect our borders. And what I learned last night when I was there with Congressman Ortiz is that the University of Texas at Brownsville would have part of its campus cut off. This is the kind of absurdity that we're getting from this administration. I know it because I've been fighting with them about the northern border. Their imposition of passports and other kinds of burdens are separating people from families, interfering with business and commerce, the movement of goods and people. So what I've said is that I would say, wait a minute, we need to review this. There may be places where a physical barrier is appropriate. I think when both of us voted for this, we were voting for the possibility that where it was appropriate and made sense, it would be considered. But as with so much, the Bush administration has gone off the deep end, and they are unfortunately coming up with a plan that I think is counterproductive.
Voted YES on the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, which called for a 370-mile fence along the Mexican border
A physical structure is obviously important...A wall in certain areas would be appropriate.
Voted YES on the construction of a 700-mile fence along the US-Mexican border
RUSSERT: But you would allow the sanctuary cities to disobey the federal law CLINTON: Well, I don't think there is any choice. The ICE groups come in and raid individuals, but if you are a local police chief and you're trying to solve a crime that you know people from the immigrant community have information about, they may not talk to you if they think you're also going to be enforcing the immigration laws. CLINTON: Local law enforcement has a different job than federal immigration enforcement. The problem is the federal government has totally abdicated its responsibility.
Voted NO to amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to facilitate information sharing between federal and local law enforcement officials related to an individual's immigration status.
"We did have to make it clear to employers that they could not take advantage of undocumented workers. That they had to be held to a higher standard, and that we were going to have a system to do that."
In response to two audience questions [at the La Raza National Convention], Mrs. Clinton would not promise to end large-scale raids on illegal aliens in the workplace, which have led to families being separated. Instead, she said she would ask her Homeland Security Department to target employers as well. 'It is time they start going after the employers who abuse and exploit undocumented workers instead of just going after the workers themselves,' she said.
She called for stricter sanctions on employers who hire illegal immigrants, and she echoed Mr. Bush in saying undocumented immigrants should have to pay fines and should have a lower priority than legal residents in applying for citizenship, even if it takes '10 to 15 years.'
"People have to stop employing illegal immigrants."
Voted YES on comprehensive immigration reform which established benchmarks for workplace enforcement, including an electronic employment verification system
McCain-Kennedy Immigration Reform Bill; Bill S.1639 ; vote number 2007-235 on Jun 28, 2007
"The problem is that if it becomes official instead of recognized as national, which indeed it is, it is our national language. If it becomes official, that means in a place like New York City you can't print ballots in any other language. That means you can't have government pay for translators in hospitals, so when somebody comes in with some sort of emergency, there's nobody there to help translate what their problem is for the doctors."
Voted NO to amend title 4, United States Code, to declare English as the national language of the Government of the United States, and for other purposes.