campaigning, too. Voters aren't going to go and look up candidates' voting records from the past in any large numbers. That's the nature of primary elections. At some point, candidates have to make things very clear to potential voters. It's early days, though, so there's actually plenty of time for candidates to do that.

Sadly, facts not presented in campaigns are ignored by most voters. People vote their impressions, pretty much.

smears.

There's no problem with Sanders' stance on immigration. But people don't know that. His campaign needs to make his positions crystal clear immediately. I hope that happens.

If he's going to have any chance at all, his campaign is going to have to be far more proactive with these things than it has been so far. If he can't get his polling numbers into the 20s very soon, they're going to start going down from the 13% shown in the recent Ohio poll. At this stage in the campaign, his numbers need to be rising visibly.

His campaign machine needs to be running at full speed right now. I'm not seeing that, unfortunately. DU posts don't count.

even though they may be children brought to the US through no fault of their own.
http://www.isidewith.com/poll/383922203/9333345

Vermont is NOT a state that has tuition equity:
http://unitedwedream.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/deep_education_map.pdf

There's no doubt that Bernie would support various immigration reforms, but Hillary SPONSORED reform bills over a decade ago, while Martin O'Malley passed reforms in Maryland as Governor.

Immigration reform has not been a big issue for Bernie until recently, which makes sense because it goes against his constituents and also has little impact on Vermont.

Immigrant reformers in the Sunbelt states don't dislike Bernie. They either have never heard from him, or else don't see him as a leading advocate for their cause in his tenure as a Senator.

almost smack down the middle. You do know what an MOE is, right?

As for Hillary, until recently she was against drivers licenses and positively gungho on deporting children. Do defend that, dear.

Vermont is way behind Sunbelt states (even Texas!) where the vast majority favor in-state tuition for residents, even if undocumented.

Meanwhile, Hillary has been clear that the diver's license issue is confounded because it's a state function, so it would end up in an unfriendly Supreme Court ruling anyway. I guess you can see Obama's hesitation to invoke executive privilege was well-founded knowing a legal fight was inevitable. The same issue occurs with executive mandates about deporting those who flee from SA.

Hillary has put forward many federal reforms that would supersede the states who resist. Many of those were blocked by the GOP. The record is extensive, and anyone who wants to can Google and follow up:

“As a Senator I was proud to cosponsor the national DREAM Act and to vote for it.

I’m a strong supporter of comprehensive immigration reform and I believe that we have to fix our broken immigration system. We have to keep families together. We have to treat everyone with dignity and compassion, uphold the rule of law, and respect our heritage as a nation of immigrants striving to build a better life. And so, bringing millions of hardworking people out of the shadows and into the formal economy is what we’re doing in Maryland and what we need to do across the United States.” Hillary Clinton, 10/30/14

Supporting the DREAM Act. Hillary Clinton has called passage of DREAM Act “long overdue.” This legislation, which would allow immigrant children who “have demonstrated good moral character, and are pursuing a college education or have enlisted in the military,

the… opportunity to earn legal status in this country,” was cosponsored by Clinton in 2003, 2005, and 2007.

Fighting for comprehensive immigration reform.

Hillary Clinton has long been an advocate for comprehensive immigration reform. She was one of the two cosponsors of Senator Ted Kennedy’s 2004 bill, the S.O.L.V.E. Act, and during her time in the Senate she continued to cosponsor and vote for comprehensive immigration reform legislation. As a presidential candidate in 2008, Hillary called for “a path to legalization” to bring people “out of the shadows,” and she pledged that, if elected, she would introduce a plan for immigration reform “in the first 100 days” of her presidency.

As Sec. Clinton recently told a tearful young undocumented immigrant, “I’m a huge supporter of immigration reform and a path to citizenship and will continue to advocate for that.”

Expanding access to health care.

Hillary Clinton introduced the Legal Immigrant Children’s Health Improvement Act to end the five-year waiting period for immigrant children and pregnant women to participate in the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Advocating for her 2007 bill, she said, “While most children receive preventative medical care, such as vaccines and routine dental care, too often immigrant children do not. They are forced to forego treatment and can ultimately end up seeking needed care in emergency rooms—the least cost-effective place to provide care.” Reintroduced and passed in 2009 as part of the Children’s Health Insurance Program reauthorization, former Secretary of Health and Human Resources Kathleen Sebelius praised this legislative push that ultimately allowed health “coverage to all children who are lawfully present in the United States.”

Job training for people with limited English proficiency. Hillary Clinton developed and introduced legislation to expand job training access to people with limited English language skills. Touting this bill, the Access to Employment and English Acquisition Act,

Hillary said, “There is no question that English proficiency is critical to economic advancement and improved quality of life for LEP [Limited English Proficient] workers and their families. Workers who are fluent in oral and written English earn about 24 percent more than those who lack fluency, regardless of their qualifications. These individuals are better able to participate in the civic life of their community, which so many LEP individuals in New York tell me they want to do.”

Expanding opportunities to gain permanent residency. As a candidate for Senate, Hillary Clinton called for passage of legislation so that “All immigrants on the verge of gaining residency status should not be forced to leave this country while they wait for the INS to process their application.”

The LIFE Act and LIFE Act Amendments, enacted in December 2000, allowed certain eligible immigrants until April, 2001 to apply for permanent residency without being forced to leave the United States first. As a Senator, Hillary urged those eligible to apply for the program and she cosponsored legislation to extend it until April, 2002.

Keeping families together.

In 2007, during debate over the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, Hillary Clinton introduced an amendment to reclassify the spouses and minor children of lawful permanent residents as immediate relatives.

As she said before the vote, “It is time to take all the rhetoric about family values and put it into action and show that we mean what we say when we talk about putting families first. That is what my amendment does… It is our view we must make reuniting families a priority in our immigration system, that we should show compassion for those living apart from their spouses and minor children, that we should reform immigration in a way that honors families and brings them together.” The bipartisan amendment failed, 44-53.

Good to know.

put its pants on." This is what makes these little "whisper campaigns", or casually tossed-out asides, so insidious.

...is there something specific (other than voice support for the workers) Sen. Sanders has done for the community of migrant dairy workers you could highlight?

Also, are there any immigrant organizations or groups in Vermont which have specifically endorsed or recognized the senator for his efforts and positions on immigrant rights? I don't see his name associated with 'Migrant Justice,' for instance. Something with the senator quoting his support for the immigrant drivers license bill passed in Vermont? Thanks.


I have seen a large number of votes by the senator against republican attempts to limit numbers of refugees as far back as the Clinton administration. There is definitely solid support from Sen. Sanders for associated rights for migrant workers. He's opposed border fencing, voted against deploying National Guard to the border, voted against E-Verify, against efforts to rescind sanctuary efforts and policies by individual states, voted to block efforts to defund Pres. Obama's executive orders in DHS appropriations on amnesty, voted against other efforts to delay or eliminate amnesty for undocumented immigrants (since the Clinton admin.), voted to block McCain's amendment expediting the removal of unaccompanied refugee children in 2015...


If I'm not mistaken Sen, Sanders opposed efforts to grant Mexican migrants social security benefits. Sen. Sanders voted in favor of the Dorgan Amendment (SA 1316) to S. 1348 that sunsets the Y-1 temporary nonimmigrant nonagricultural worker program five years after enactment.


from NumbersUSA (not a particularly immigration-friendly site) https://www.numbersusa.com/content/my/congress/958/votingrecord#tabset-3

Sen. Sanders voted in favor of SA 1231, the Durbin Amendment to S. 1348 to ensure that employers make efforts to recruit American workers before hiring foreign workers. Voted in favor of amendment to S. 1348 to increase H-1B visa fees in 2007,the Sanders Amendment (S. 1223) to S. 1348. The Sanders Amendment would raise the fees employers who wish to import H-1B high-skill nonimmigrant workers from $1,500 to $10,000, with the funds going to scholarships for American high tech students.

Voted in favor of amendment to cut proposed guestworker program in half in 2007 Sen. Sanders voted in favor of the Bingaman Amendment (SA 1169) to S. 1348, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007. The Bingaman Amendment would reduce the annual importation of workers under the new guestworker programs proposed by S. 1348 from 400,000 to 200,000 workers per year.

Rep. Sanders was a cosponsor of H.R. 3381, the L-1 Nonimmigrant Reform Act. H.R. 3381 strengthens the rules governing the admission of L-1 intra-company transferees, adds protections for American workers, and increases the penalties for employers who violate the rules. The bill also establishes a cap of 35,000 on the number of L-1 nonimmigrants who may be admitted annually, but it exempts all L-1 visa holders who work at nonprofits in the United States.

Opposed doubling of H-1B foreign high-tech workers in 1998 The House passed H.R. 3736 by a vote of 288-133. Rep. Sanders opposed this bill which ultimately increased by nearly 150,000 the number of foreign workers that high-tech American companies could hire over the next three years. Although the foreign workers receive temporary visas for up to six years, most historically have found ways to stay permanently in this country. Rep. Sanders joined those who argued that the foreign workers were not needed while U.S. firms were laying off tens of thousands of American workers.


from a 2011 article about an interview with Diane Rehm:

In a passionate statement on the Senate floor on May 22, 2007, Sanders noted that while the U.S. Chamber of Commerce supported the proposed guest worker program, it opposed raising the minimum wage for U.S. workers.

Said Sanders, "What this legislation is not about is addressing the real needs of American workers. … What it is about is bringing into this country over a period of years millions of low-wage temporary workers, with the result that wages and benefits in this country, which are already going down, will go down even further."

Later in the speech, Sanders noted that American business wanted to bring in foreign workers even as it was outsourcing jobs to foreign countries. "In other words, if these large corporations are not shutting down plants in the United States, throwing American workers out on the streets, moving to China where they pay people 50 cents an hour, what they are doing is developing and pushing legislation which displaces American workers and lowers wages in this country by bringing low-wage workers from abroad into America."

from the interview:

I support immigration reform. I think we need comprehensive immigration reform. The one area where I am concerned about, and I've played an active role, is I don't want to see companies utilizing guest worker programs to lower wages for American workers. Sometimes what you see is these companies are bringing people from other countries around the world with really the expressed goal of lowering wages in America. And that concerns me. But, on the other hand, do we have to integrate the people who are in this country into the United States in one way or another sort of path towards citizenship, I do believe that...

from Immigrant Action:

In 2007, Sanders voted against a comprehensive immigration reform bill because of his concerns around how guest-worker programs impact native workers. Most recently, Sanders joined other Senators calling on the U.S. Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and the Labor Department to investigate potential abuses in the H1-B program.

Immigrants are already providing many economic benefits to Sanders’ home state of Vermont. Undocumented immigrants are an important component of the tax base in Vermont and pay $2.8 million in state and local taxes in 2010...

Sanders was initially reluctant to support the Senate Immigration reform bill, S. 744 over concerns with guest worker programs, however after an amendment that would have provided $1.5 billion over two years to state and local job programs targeting 16- to 24-year-olds was added, Sanders voted for the bill.

Sanders also seemingly understands the need to include a pathway to citizenship in immigration reform. Specifically, Sanders noted how S.744 would have directly impacted the 2,000 Hispanic migrant workers in his state, Vermont:

“The immigration bill includes a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants; the DREAM Act which offers conditional citizenship to those who were brought to the U.S. as children; and stronger security for our borders. This bill will also provide legal status for agricultural workers – including those working on dairy farms in Vermont.”

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/217697-dreamers-praise-sanders-over-clinton-after-confronting-both-in-iowa