Bernie's Immigration Record, Compared to Hillary's:

[amborin]

2007: Voted No comprehensive reform: guest workers are semi-slaves

Q: In 2007, you voted against immigration reform. Why should Latino voters trust you now?

A: I voted against that piece of legislation because it had guest-worker provisions in it which the Southern Poverty Law Center talked about being semi-slavery. Guest workers are coming in, they're working under terrible conditions, but if they stand up for their rights, they're thrown out of the country. I was not the only progressive to vote against that legislation for that reason.
Source: 2015 CNN Democratic primary debate in Las Vegas , Oct 13, 2015

Comprehensive reform with no border fence & no guest workers
Q: What are Bernie's views on immigration generally?

A: Bernie believes America's current immigration system is broken and requires comprehensive reform. An important aspect of immigration reform, according to Bernie, is to establish some pathway to legal residency or citizenship for the 11 million undocumented workers living in the United States so that they need not work and live in the shadows.

Q: What about the border fence?

A: While he believes that border security is important for the country, Bernie doesn't believe that a fence is the way to achieve that security.

In contrast, Hillary voted many times for a border wall:

Hillary has ALREADY voted many times to actually construct one to keep out "illegal immigrants."

http://www.latintimes.com/hillary-clinton-bragging-about-building-border-wall-keeping-out-illegal-immigrants-352631

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s campaign denounced Hillary Clinton on Monday over comments she made in a New Hampshire Town Hall that highlighted her support of a U.S.-Mexico border as a tool to deter Latin American immigrants from entering the country illegally. The comments came after O’Malley himself blasted Clinton over her immigration record on Sunday at an immigration forum in Nevada which she did attend, a fact that the former Gov. was happy to underscore. Clinton’s border wall comments came in response to a question from an audience member who asked “What you think about securing the border with some of the illegal immigrants that come in?”

“I voted numerous times when I was a senator to spend money to build a barrier to try to prevent illegal immigrants from coming in,” Clinton said.

http://www.latintimes.com/hillary-clinton-bragging-about-building-border-wall-keeping-out-illegal-immigrants-352631

Hillary refusing to speak to people asking her about amnesty:

Hillary says send the children back to the violence in Honduras to "send a message"

(let's remember her role in triggering that violence)

Hillary Flip Flops on Immigration

She didn't want immigrants to be granted driver's licenses:

“It was a politically tough issue,” Elliot Spitzer told the Times. “It didn’t poll well, but there was no ambiguity about what was right.

And if you look at where we are now as a nation on this very issue It’s the law of the land, I think, in California, a slew of states, and it’s not controversial because people know it’s right and it works. But at the time it was controversial. And because it was controversial she hemmed and she hawed.”


http://www.latintimes.com/hillary-clinton-immigration-flip-flops-criticized-martin-omalley-immigrant-activist-351341

Here is Hillary speaking derisively of "illegal immigrants." She speaks as if these individuals are sub-human, surplus population; in fact, they are simply desperately seeking work to survive:

Here is Hillary on her refusal to agree to issue drivers' licenses to undocumented citizens:

Furthermore, she lobbied for Bill Clinton's mean-spirited immigration law:

During their two for one presidency, Clinton passed one of the most punitive immigration laws in history.

Since we're being told that Senator Clinton is running in part based on her experience in her husband's administration I'd like to briefly examine a few bills that the Clinton administration signed into law as that's part of the record she's running on.

In 1996 the Senate and House passed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. Bill Clinton signed it into law on April 24, 1996.

AEDPA hurt citizens and immigrants alike. AEDPA severely restricted the appeals process for people on death row and curtailed judicial review making it easier for the government to execute people.

In the criminal contest AEDPA has been described as:

"a Draconian statute that prevents defendants even from challenging their convictions based on, for instance, strong new evidence of innocence, or a serious error of law on a question the Supreme Court has not yet directly addressed."

It’s clear that in our flawed criminal justice system with its obvious race and class bias that such a law would disproportionately harm the poor and minorities. Other than pandering to the right-wing there was little or not legitimate reason to pass such a bill and a principled stand by a Democrat would have been to veto it.

AEDPA also removed some of the existing legal processes for immigrants facing deportation and made it easier to deport people. It created mandatory detention prior to deportation. It broadened the types of crimes that could result in a deportation. Essentially it made it easier for the government to detain and deport people and made it harder for those same people to prove that they should be allowed to stay.

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility was also passed and signed into law in 1996. Along with AEDPA this law was supposed to have the effect of controlling illegal immigration and immigration fraud. In actuality they are both needlessly and pointlessly harsh and punitive laws that harm American families and make it harder to legally enter the United States.

The American Immigration Lawyers association has described some of the harshest provisions of both AEDPA and IIRIRA:


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/3/449127/-

this from a post on DU by azmom:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511271142

Whereas Bernie is AGAINST a fence:

Bernie says that we are a "nation of immigrants. That is, in fact, the strength of America." He believes the US must create an immigration system that invites greater innovation, diversity, and economic opportunity for both American-born citizens and the people who want to make this land their home. Bernie supports immigration reform that will address the legal status of the 11 million undocumented people in our country, protect American jobs by way of visa reform, secure the border, and protect undocumented workers from labor exploitation.

DREAM Act: Supports the path toward permanent residency for young, undocumented immigrants.

Sanders generally agrees with President Obama that most of the undocumented immigrants in the country now should be given a path to citizenship. He voted for the senate immigration bill in 2013, which would have increased border security and issued a provisional immigrant status to millions of undocumented residents once some significant security metrics had been met. In addition, Sanders has supported President Obama's use of executive orders to waive deportation for some groups of immigrants, including those who were brought to the United States as children.

Source: PBS News Hour "2016 Candidate Stands" series , Apr 30, 2015

Immigrant labor should be treated as valuable, but are not

Negative aspects of 21st century farming: water and air pollution, the hazards of industrial agriculture (farms in California or Idaho or New Mexico can exceed 10,00 cows), and milk that is perhaps not as healthful as that obtained from pasture-grazed animals. The labor situation on dairy farms, which are more and more dependent on immigrant labor from Mexico and Central America. Some of these immigrants are treated as the valuable laborers they are; others, unfortunately and tragically, are not.
Source: Sanders Intro to `Milk Money`, by Kirk Kardashian, p. ix-x , Oct 9, 2012

English-Only, based in xenophobia, hurts legal immigrants
As in other countries with economic problems, xenophobia is intensifying. The issue for some can be summarized by the writing I recently saw on a t-shirt: "If you can't speak English, get the f--k out of the US."

The "English Only" bill mandates that all official communication by the federal government be in English. This means that members of Congress from a heavily Hispanic or Polish district, for instance, would be prohibited from communicating with their constituents in Spanish or Polish. Election, tax, and other information needed by millions of citizens would be available only in English. President Clinton indicates that he will veto this legislation, and the bill will not go anywhere--not even to the Senate. But it passes in the House by a vote of 259 to 169. 8 Republicans, 160 Democrats, and I vote against the bill.
Source: Outsider in the House, by Bernie Sanders, p.136 , Jun 17, 1997

Bernie Voted YES on continuing federal funds for declared "sanctuary cities".

CONGRESSIONAL SUMMARY: To create a reserve fund to ensure that Federal assistance does not go to sanctuary cities that ignore the immigration laws of the United States and create safe havens for illegal aliens and potential terrorists. This vote is a motion to table the amendment; voting YES would kill the amendment.

SUPPORTER'S ARGUMENT FOR VOTING NO ON TABLING MOTION:Sen. VITTER: There are so-called sanctuary cities which establish as an official policy of their jurisdiction: We are not going to cooperate with Federal immigration enforcement officials. That is wrong. What is more, it is completely contrary to Federal immigration law. My amendment says: We are going to put some consequence to that defiance of Federal law. We are not going to give them COPS funds. We are going to send those funds, instead, to all of those other jurisdictions which abide by Federal law.OPPONENT'S ARGUMENT FOR VOTING YES ON TABLING MOTION:Sen. DURBIN: There are sanctuary cities in about 23 different States across America. What the Vitter amendment will do is to take away the COPS funding from those cities. Police departments will tell you they need the cooperation of everyone to solve crimes and stop crime. If you create fear in the minds of those who are here in an undocumented status that any cooperation with the police will result in their arrest, they will not cooperate and criminals will go free. Let's not use the COPS Program as some sort of threat. If you want to deal with immigration, deal with it responsibly in a comprehensive way. SUPPORTER'S RESPONSE:Sen. VITTER: If folks feel that way, they should come to Congress and change Federal law, not simply defy Federal law. This is another amnesty vote. Are we going to give folks in sanctuary cities amnesty for defying Federal law and refusing to cooperate with Federal immigration officials? LEGISLATIVE OUTCOME:Motion to Table Agreed to, 58-40
Reference: Bill Table S.Amdt.4309 to S.Con.Res ; vote number 08-S069 on Mar 13, 2008

Bernie Voted NO on declaring English as the official language of the US government.

Voting YES would declare English as the national language of the Government of the US. Unless specifically provided by statute, no person would have an entitlement to have the Government of the US communicate or provide materials in any language other than English. If an exception is made with respect to the use of a language other than English, the exception does not create a legal entitlement to additional services in that language. If any form is issued by the Federal Government in a language other than English, the English language version of the form is the sole authority for all legal purposes. Nothing in this amendment shall prohibit the use of a language other than English.

I believe the American people understand in order to succeed in our society, immigrants need to learn English. But the amendment would do a number of things that are problematical. The first is that it is contrary to the provisions of law that exist in many States. For example, in New Mexico, you have in their State Constitution, a provision that says that many of the documents within that State have to be provided in both English and Spanish. The same thing is true for the State of Hawaii. I believe this is a States rights issue, and those constitutions of those States ought to be respected. I do not believe it is a matter we ought to be imposing here from Washington DC.

Reference: National Language Amendment Act; Bill S.Amdt.1151 to S.1348 ; vote number 2007-198 on Jun 6, 2007

Bernie Voted NO on building a fence along the Mexican border.
Within 18 months, achieves operational control over U.S. land and maritime borders, including:

systematic border surveillance through more effective use of personnel and technology; and
physical infrastructure enhancements to prevent unlawful border entry

Defines "operational control" as the prevention of all unlawful U.S. entries, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful aliens, narcotics, and other contraband.

Bernie Voted NO on reporting illegal aliens who receive hospital treatment.

Vote to pass the bill that would require hospitals to gather and report information on possible illegal aliens before hospitals can be reimbursed for treating them. The bill would also make employers liable for the reimbursements if an undocumented employee seeks medical attention, unless the employer meets particular conditions for exemption. The bill would specify that hospitals aren't required to provide care to undocumented aliens if they can be transported to their home country without a significant chance of worsening their condition.
Reference: Undocumented Alien Emergency Medical Assistance Amendments; Bill HR 3722 ; vote number 2004-182 on May 20, 2004

Voted NO on more immigrant visas for skilled workers.

Vote to pass a bill to increase the number of temporary visas granted to highly skilled workers from 65,000 to 115,000 by the year 2000.
Reference: Bill introduced by Smith, R-TX.; Bill HR 3736 ; vote number 1998-460 on Sep 24, 1998

Whereas: Hillary continually pushes for MORE H1B Visas, as she does here:

[orpupilofnature57]

1. It's the Demagoguery that SCARES me .

[Skwmom]

2. Bernie believes in Border Security.

Senator Sanders believes that we can ensure that our borders are modern and secure. Indeed, we must continually modernize our border security measures and maintain security, all while protecting the rights and needs of our border communities. Border communities have much to offer the nation economically and culturally, but these contributions have been stunted or overshadowed by a negligent buildup of border enforcement. Communities along our border, particularly along the southern border, have become militarized and are being patrolled by a highly weaponized Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP).

A 21st Century Border Must Use Resources Efficiently and Effectively. Appropriations must be re-directed away from boondoggle walls to high grade cameras, thermal imaging, movement sensors and other technologies. More resources must also be allocated to CBP training and oversight, and to rebuild crumbling infrastructure along the border region. Senator Sanders will work to ensure that the CBP is a highly functioning law enforcement body.

Reject Piecemeal Border Enforcement. Senator Sanders rejects the argument that the border must be further militarized before the implementation of a roadmap to citizenship. We must remove the insecurity that border communities face as we modernize and make our border security operations more efficient.

https://berniesanders.com/issues/a-fair-and-humane-immigration-policy/

Fun and games....