Hillary Clinton 2016? 5 Ways Presidential Candidate Has Pissed Off Latinos

Las Vegas, Nevada — Hillary Clinton was leading in national polls among Latinos before the first Democratic debate. Will she continue to captivate the passions of Hispanic constituents? As we’ve written before, many indicators say yes. In Nevada, her campaign is attracting Latino volunteers. Nationally, she has won over key Latino influencers and prominent Hispanic politicians. But does she have a lock on the Latino vote? Despite her political success in the Latino community, Clinton has found some interesting ways to piss off Latinos.

1) The Democratic Debate

During Tuesday's debate, Hillary Clinton rejected a promise by a fellow candidate to make Dreamers eligible for in-state tuition. Dreamers are immigrants in the country illegally who were brought by their parents as children; probably the least controversial group in the immigration debate.

Presidential candidate Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley signed a Dreamer tuition law in his home state, and has proposed a mandate to make in-state tuition available for all immigrant youth in their home states. Bernie Sanders wants to make all universities free, including for Dreamers.

“My plan would support any state that takes that position, and would work with those states and encourage more states to do the same thing,” Clinton said.

In other words, Clinton didn't pledge to mandate states or finding federal funding for in-state tuition. For Latino voters with brothers, sisters, neighbors and cousins who are Dreamers in states with anti-immigrant policies, that might be hard to hear. Latinos make up a significant portion of the residents of these states, which are listed by the NCSL.

Three states—Arizona*, Georgia and Indiana—specifically prohibit in-state tuition rates for undocumented students, and two states—Alabama and South Carolina— prohibit undocumented students from enrolling at any public postsecondary institution.

Clinton is essentially throwing up her hands on giving undocumented immigrants government benefits. Arguably, these issues unnecessarily incense Republicans, even if they could be passed as executive action.

At the same time, that pragmatism flies in the face of daily struggles that affect millions of Latino families on a daily basis. It's a tough argument for many Latinos to swallow. (Similar to Cliton's rejection of O’Malley’s immigrant healthcare plan; see below.)

*Many but not all Dreamers are eligible for DACA, and a court recently ruled that DACAmented immigrants can get in-state tuition in Arizona.

2) Prison Campaign Contributions

It is difficult for some Latino activists to accept Clinton’s promises on prison reform when she’s reportedly taking campaign donations from the companies that run them. Rival campaigns are seizing on this and Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley are pledging to end private prisons all together.

3) Immigration Detention And Deportation

Hillary Clinton made the case at the first Democratic debate why she has changed so many of her positions. Politics change over time, and she’s been in politics for a while. But unlike her position on gay marriage, which evolved over decades, Clinton’s position on migrant detention flipped when she left the State Department and started to mull a presidential campaign.

“I don't think we should put children and vulnerable people into big detention facilities because I think they're at risk. I think that their physical and mental health are at risk,” Clinton said in May of 2015, according to U.S. News.

That’s a big switch from summer of 2014, when she towed the Obama administration line as Secretary of State, defending for family and juvenile detention and arguing for expedited removal of unaccompanied minors. Thousands of minors were deported without access to a lawyer. Those programs are now embroiled in multiple lawsuits over mistreatment of children and mothers.

“Now I think we have a different problem,” she said. “Because the emergency is over, we need to be moving to try to get people out of these detention centers, particularly the women and children. I think we need more resources to process them, to listen to their stories, to find out if they have family in this country, if they have a legitimate reason for staying. So I would be putting a lot of resources into doing that, but my position has been and remains the same.”

4) Co-opting The Latino Press

In a recent op-ed for Univision, Hillary Clinton had the audacity to name-drop a group of Latino journalists and activists. Clinton’s op-ed repeated the refrain “I’m with you," celebrating Hispanic figures like Dolores Huerta and criticizing Republicans like Donald Trump, who had recently ejected Univision anchor Jorge Ramos from a news conference.

“Estoy con María Hinojosa, quien fundó Futuro Media Group para contar las historias de quienes habían sido pasados por alto o mal representados,” said Clinton's piece.

How did award-winning NPR journalist Maria Hinojosa respond? It's a tough position: stay silent, and it's a tacit endorsement of Clinton. Speak against her and it sounds like an endorsement of her opponents. (By the way, Hinojosa documents her efforts to “tell stories that are passed over or poorly represented” is detailed in this Ted Talk )

“It's good to know that a presidential candidate is aware of the multimedia storytelling of Futuro Media and Latino USA,” Hinojsa wrote in a response published on the Huffington Post.

Hinojosa is the Anchor & Executive Producer of Latino USA, produced by Futuro Media Group and distributed by NPR.

“But the real proof of Clinton's stand with Latinos,” she continued “or the commitment of any of the candidates for that matter -- will be if they create access points for us to discuss the issues Latinos care about.”

5) Ignoring The Press

Hinojosa then challenged Clinton and other presidential candidates to an interview.

“We appreciate you standing with us. Now, to all candidates, sit down with us,” Hinojosa wrote.

The Latin Times asked representitives of the Clinton campaign if they had responded to Hinojosa’s request. They didn’t answer our email. Then we asked Hinojosa herself.

“We have requested one-on-one interviews with every major candidate running for President, to take place in New York City or anytime and anywhere on the campaign trail.

"Though we received an email from Clinton’s campaign acknowledging the Huffington Post op-ed, as well as acknowledgements from Sanders and Trump’s teams, we have yet to have any candidate agree to an interview. Ms. Fiorina has declined our request," Hinojosa said in an email.

Since Hinojosas' op-ed, Clinton has sat down with a couple more Latino, e.g. her interview with Telemundo. That interview forced her to give specifics on some aspects of her immigration plan, though Telemundo did not ask Clinton about immigration jails.

If Clinton is to continue leading in Latino outreach among Democratic candidates, she might need to do even more interviews. Of course, sitting down with Latino journalists might have it’s risks. Those journalists might, you know, tell a bunch of stories that have been passed over, or poorly told.

1.5) The Democratic Debate (Continued)

In addition to the Dream Act education funding, Clinton shot down another O’Malley proposal which would benefit immigrants in the country illegally, whom he calls “New Americans.” He proposes making them eligible for subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.

Even immigrants in the country legally have had a tough time signing up for Obamacare due due to onerous and confusing application requirements. For unauthorized immigrants, it is next to impossible to get health insurance, adding to the multi-million person hole in Obamacare's reach.

“I want to open up the opportunity for immigrants to be able to buy in to the exchanges under the Affordable Care Act. I think to go beyond that, as I understand what Governor O'Malley has recommended, so that they would get the same subsidies ... I think that is -- it raises so many issues. It would be very difficult to administer, it needs to be part of a comprehensive immigration reform, when we finally do get to it,” Clinton said.

O'Malley's proposal could energize immigration opponents and even moderates, as it would essential call for government subsidies flowing straight to immigrants in the country illegally. But for Latino Democrats and other pro-immigrant voters whose friends and families are struggling to acquire health insurance, it might feel a bit early for Clinton's middle-of-the-road compromises on progressive policies.

Do you support Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign? Tweet @viacedar or comment on our Facebook page and we might feature your comments in our upcoming article “Hillary Clinton 2015: 5 Ways Candidate Has Won Over Latinos.”