Democrats promise immigration reform, no more fences
Presidential candidates discuss issues at forum organized by Latino group.
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By Eunice Moscoso
WASHINGTON BUREAU
Sunday, July 01, 2007

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Two days after a major immigration overhaul plan died in the Senate, Democratic presidential candidates vowed if elected to push for legislation that would protect workers and give unlawful immigrants a path to citizenship.

In a forum at Disney World sponsored by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, the candidates said they also support stronger border security and cracking down on employers who exploit undocumented workers.

"As president, I will sign comprehensive immigration reform," said Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. "I want my daughters to be raised in a community in which all people, and not just some, are considered part of the American dream."

Obama also defended his vote last year to build 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border, saying that he does not believe that "good fences make good neighbors," but that Congress had to give the American people confidence that it was committed to an orderly immigration process as part of a broad reform.

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards garnered applause when he said he "would never be for building a wall all the way across our Southern border." Edwards said he would deploy more personnel and more technology along the border as enforcement measures, while offering illegal immigrants here "an absolute path to citizenship."

Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York said she was disappointed that the Senate did not move forward with its immigration bill and that the cornerstone of any future measure must be a "path to legalization" for the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants already in the United States.

Clinton also said she thinks the United States must end the Iraq war and start bringing U.S. troops out of combat, a sentiment that was echoed by all the candidates, which included Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Joseph Biden of Delaware, Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

Earlier at the convention, Clinton criticized probable Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson for saying last week that Cuban immigrants pose a terrorist threat.

"I was appalled when one of the people running for, or about to run for, the Republican nomination talked about Cuban refugees as potential terrorists," she said, adding that Thompson "apparently doesn't have a lot of experience in Florida or anywhere else, and doesn't know a lot of Cuban Americans."

However, in a posting on his Web site, Thompson said he was referring to spies from Cuban dictator Fidel Castro infiltrating the United States.

The Democratic candidates appeared on stage one at a time and were asked questions on immigration, the war in Iraq, terrorism, education and health care.

The crowd of several hundred people gave each candidate a standing ovation, but the most celebrated was Richardson, who at one point asked for more time to speak by saying, "I'm the only Latino running for president; give me a break."

The comment garnered applause and yells of approval. A similar reaction ensued when Richardson said, "The first thing that will go down when I'm president is this wall."

Richardson also criticized the media's portrayal of immigrants as people jumping over a wall.

He said the images should include farm workers "who break their backs to bring agriculture to this country," people who clean the toilets at hotels and the "Latino immigrant who has died for this country" in the military.

He closed his appearance in Spanish, telling the crowd that they are his family, but that they should not vote for him just because he is Hispanic.

"Vamos a ser una historia. Vamos a ganar," he said, which means, "We are going to make history. We are going to win."

According to a USA Today/Gallup poll released last week, Clinton has a major advantage with Hispanic voters. Fifty-nine percent of Hispanic Democrats said they support Clinton, compared with 13 percent for Obama, 11 percent for Richardson, 7 percent for Edwards and 1 percent for Biden.








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