Hillary Clinton denounced the Obama administration’s recent deportation raids as she laid out a plan for Central American refugees Monday night.
In a new statement released moments before her remarks at the Brown and Black Democratic Presidential Forum in Iowa, Clinton’s campaign also called on the administration to promise legal counsel to all unaccompanied minors, reform for the asylum and refugee systems and to reinvest in Central America.
{mosads}When asked by Fusion’s Jorge Ramos at the forum if she would be the next “deporter in chief,” Clinton echoed the stance that her campaign had only released minutes earlier.
“I have come out against the raids. I do not think the raids are an appropriate tool to enforce the immigration laws. They are divisive, sewing discord and fear,” she said.
“We have to be sensitive and humane in the application of our laws.”
Clinton would not commit to never deporting children despite being pressed by Ramos multiple times.
“I would give every person, but particularly children, due process to have their story told,” she said, adding that there will be “a lot of legitimate stories.”
“I cannot sit here and tell you I have a blanket rule over who will be let in the country to stay because it has to be done individually. What I don’t like is the mass roundups and raids that just pick people up and send them off in the middle of the night, and that should end.”
While the Monday night campaign statement was the first time Clinton called to grant all unaccompanied minors legal counsel, she noted that she had already come out in favor of that policy.
It’s the furthest Clinton has gone herself after aides expressed cautious disapproval prior to now.
Her two main Democratic foes, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley, were much more forceful in their disagreement with the deportation push.
The Obama administration has been panned by many Democrats who are worried that it could hurt the party on the issue of immigration.
Updated at 10:36 p.m.