U.S. Election Update: The Immigration Question in the First Democratic Debate
U.S. Election Update: The Immigration Question in the First Democratic Debate
The presidential candidates gave their views on education and health care for undocumented immigrants.
If you wanted to get U.S. Democratic presidential candidates’ perspectives on Latinos, trade, or foreign policy in Latin America, the party’s first debate of the 2016 presidential race did not scratch the itch. Instead, on the evening of October 13, candidates spent more time talking about issues such as income inequality, gun laws, and foreign policy in the Middle East. But with 59 percent of voters saying immigration is a top issue when considering their vote, all but one of the participants did get in their two cents on immigration.
While the Trans-Pacific Partnership was not explicitly mentioned, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the terms of “the trade deal” she was in favor of three years ago were different today and did not meet her standards to promote job and wage growth.
Who got the most (and least) airtime in the #DemDebate, along with last night's highlights: http://t.co/94C9twJGvX pic.twitter.com/7F7emCItOX
— AP Interactive (@AP_Interactive) October 14, 2015
The Candidates’ Take on Immigration
From 8:30 to 11 p.m., CNN’s Anderson Cooper moderated the match between five of a total six Democratic candidates running for president: Clinton, former Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee, former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, and one-term Virginia Senator Jim Webb. Late-entry Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard Law School professor, was not invited to participate. According to The New York Times’ roundup of commentators and debate analysts, Clinton took the win, but Sanders got the most attention on social media.
The #1 most mentioned/search candidate on Twitter, Facebook and Google at #DemDebate: @BernieSanders pic.twitter.com/uqjHkaaVQC
— Good Morning America (@GMA) October 14, 2015
Sanders made one reference to Latinos in his opening remarks, noting that the unemployment rate among Hispanic youth stands at 36 percent. CNN en Español’s Juan Carlos López asked Sanders about the discrepancy between his vote against immigration reform legislation in 2007 and vote in favor of it in 2013. Sanders explained he voted against 2007 legislation because it had guest-worker provisions that he called “semi-slavery.” Sanders had similar objections to guest-worker provisions in the 2013 bill, but he was able to incorporate an amendment to boost youth jobs and so voted for it. The senator maintained that he has consistently called for comprehensive reform and a pathway to citizenship.
Clinton shifted her answer toward immigrants’ access to health care and in-state tuition. “I want to open up the opportunity for immigrants to be able to buy in to the exchanges under the Affordable Care Act (ACA),” she said, though she noted it would be difficult to provide undocumented persons the same subsidies provided to citizens and documented residents. She also said she’d support states that want to offer in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants.
Hillary says undocumented immigrants should get in-state tuition if states agree, O'Malley says Maryland is the example to follow #DemDebate
— Gracie Solo (@GraceSolorzano) October 14, 2015
O’Malley, who signed such tuition legislation in 2011, emphasized the positive effects immigration has on wages. “We need to understand that our country is stronger in every generation by the arrival of new American immigrants,” he said. O’Malley and Clinton agreed on a second point: expanding U.S. President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration.
Gov O'Malley made reference to his support for #DACA. Here's how DACA works: http://t.co/Mccd4Ajg3L #immigration
— AS/COA Online (@ASCOA) October 14, 2015
López also asked Webb whether he’d support undocumented immigrants’ access to ACA, known colloquially as Obamacare, to which the former Virginia senator said he “wouldn't have a problem with that.” Webb went on to describe his personal connections to the issue, as his wife is a Vietnamese immigrant. Webb said he supports immigration reform, though he stressed, “We need to be able to define our borders.”
Tuesday night’s debate was the first of six Democratic debates scheduled thus far for the election season, with the next one coming up on November 14.
