Hillary Clinton Calls Out Trump and Rubio on Immigration

Hillary Clinton spoke at the National Immigration Integration Conference today

ByABC News
December 14, 2015, 9:47 PM

— -- Hillary Clinton took aim Monday night at the immigration policies of her Republican counterparts in the 2016 race, taking a swipe at Donald Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio for their stances.

Clinton made the remarks at the National Immigration Integration Conference where she laid out specific steps to her immigration plan, aimed at providing undocumented immigrants with a pathway to citizenship.

“You see I disagree with those who say make America great,” said Clinton, referring to Trump’s campaign slogan. “We are great and we’re going to stay great, and we’re going to get greater.”

Clinton’s speech also took aim at rhetoric about mass deportations and building border walls, which Trump has espoused.

“They promise if elected to round and deport millions of people, build a mammoth wall, militarize the border, tear families apart,” said Clinton. “And after the terror shootings in San Bernardino at a time when a lot of Americans are fearful about future attacks here at home, some candidates are even stroking those fears more and turning people against Muslim Americans.”

Clinton directly contrasted her stance wit Rubio's, saying the senator is moving to “extremes and away from the rest of America.”

She called out Rubio for renouncing the 2013 Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, which he helped draft. “I know it was a blow to a lot of people in this room and across our country when that 2013 bill failed,” said Clinton.

According to the National Immigration Integration Conference, Clinton was invited to speak along with every presidential candidate. Clinton was there to specifically to promote naturalization as a pathway to citizenship. Clinton has not elaborated on her immigration plan since the summer.

“There are millions of people in America who could be naturalized but for one reason or another, they’re not,” said Clinton. “So let’s help more of our neighbors claim their rights. It’s so powerful, so precious to be a citizen of the United States.”

Clinton advocated for closing private immigrant detention centers, ending family detention and expanding health care access to families regardless of immigration status. Finally, she proposed expanding fee waivers for those seeking U.S. citizenship.