Hillary Clinton did not wait to hear directly from President Barack Obama before tweeting her support for his decision to unilaterally shield an estimated 5 million illegal immigrants from deportation.
"Thanks to POTUS for taking action on immigration in the face of inaction. Now let’s turn to permanent bipartisan reform,"
Clinton tweeted on Thursday afternoon.
Clinton elaborated on her Twitter message, issuing a formal statement after Obama's prime-time address, according to
Politico.
"I support the president’s decision to begin fixing our broken immigration system and focus finite resources on deporting felons rather than families," said the former secretary of state on Thursday evening.
Echoing the administration's argument that Obama's executive order was a consequence of congressional inaction, Clinton said the "abdication of responsibility" by the Republican-led House "paved the way for this executive action."
But, she added, "only Congress can finish the job by passing permanent bipartisan reform that keeps families together, treats everyone with dignity and compassion, upholds the rule of law, protects our borders and national security, and brings millions of hard-working people out of the shadows and into the formal economy so they can pay taxes and contribute to our nation’s prosperity."
Clinton's quick statement of support for Obama's executive action is notable because she has largely remained silent when pressed on the issue, which drew criticism from
immigration activists as she campaigned for Democratic candidates leading up to the midterm elections.
"As a potential presidential candidate in 2016, the Latino and immigrant communities need to know whether Hillary Clinton stands with our parents.
"And unfortunately, she again refused to answer whether she supports the President using his executive authority to protect people like my mother, and the parents of Dreamers across the country, and we demand an answer," said
Oliver Merino of United We Dream, one of several activists who confronted Clinton at an event for North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan.
She was on the defensive again at a campaign event in Maryland.
"As a senator, I was proud to co-sponsor the national Dream Act and to vote for it. I'm a strong supporter of comprehensive immigration reform, and I believe we have to fix our broken immigration system, [and] we have to keep families together," Clinton said in response to heckling by immigration activists at an October event for Maryland gubernatorial candidate Anthony Brown,
CBS News reported.
Clinton also was on the defense as a 2008 presidential candidate after she wavered on the issue of providing illegal immigrants with driver's licenses, according to
The New York Times.
The day before a Democratic primary debate in 2007, Clinton said that as president, "I will not support driver’s licenses for undocumented people and will press for comprehensive immigration reform that deals with all of the issues around illegal immigration, including border security and fixing our broken system."
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