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Clinton to back path to citizenship for illegal immigrants

by Ben Kamisar - 05/05/15 8:44 AM ET

Hillary Clinton is set to announce her endorsement of a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants during a campaign swing in Nevada on Tuesday.

{mosads}Reuters reports she’ll say that a “true solution” to overhauling the nation’s immigration policies must include “nothing less than a full and equal path to citizenship,” according to a campaign aide.

The aide added, she will say that failing to provide illegal immigrants with that pathway amounts to “merely a second-class status.”

In recent opinion polls, Clinton has scored well with Hispanics, a crucial constituency coming into the 2016 election. An ABC News/Washington Post poll from last month found she leads Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush (R) with Hispanic voters by 71 percent to 26 percent.

Clinton has spoken out in favor of President Obama’s controversial immigration executive actions, which seek to defer deportation for millions of illegal immigrants and provide them with access to work permits.

She also voted for President George W. Bush’s immigration reform bill in 2007, while she was a senator. The bill, which provided a pathway to citizenship, ultimately failed due to a lack of Republican support.

But on the campaign trail that year, Clinton found herself in some hot water over a New York bill to provide illegal immigrants with driver’s licenses. After initially signaling a willingness to support the proposal during an October debate, she vacillated with conflicting statements until ultimately deciding not to support the bill, which was later scrapped.

Tags Hillary Clinton Illegal immigration Immigration