As Hillary Clinton prepares for a likely White House run, she might have a new hurdle to overcome — lukewarm support among immigration activists.
Several fervent advocates for amnesty signed a petition last month urging liberal heroine Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren to compete for the Democrat nomination to act as a wake-up call to Clinton that they’re not on board with her campaign. They take particular issue with Clinton’s support for deporting some illegal immigrants, which they describe as “massive.”
“It would be a mistake to say that Hillary Clinton is the Latino candidate,” Arturo Carmona, executive director of Presente.org, an online advocacy group for Latinos, told to National Journal. “She has a lot to prove, and frankly, there’s a long list of concerns that she has to address, and it starts with her stances on ending the massive deportation program that continues in this country.”
While Clinton has indicated her support for creating a pathway to citizenship for illegals and publicly declared her approval of President Obama’s executive amnesty, that is not enough for Carmona and other advocates for illegal immigrants. That is why they support a contested primary.
“We’re not going to simply coronate any Democratic candidate just because they’re popular,” said Cesar Vargas, co-director of the Dream Act Coalition, according to National Journal.
Clinton is not the first prominent Democrat to draw the ire of immigration advocates for their stance on deportation. The National Council of La Raza, the largest Latino advocacy group in America, dubbed Obama last year the “deporter-in-chief” for his policy toward apprehended illegals.