Democratic presidential candidate nominee Bernie Sanders has promised that he would expand upon the executive actions on immigration taken by President Obama within the first 100 days of his presidency if elected in 2016 and create a more “humane” immigration system.
The Vermont senator made his comments in a statement detailing his plan, which was released on Tuesday, adding that he would allow undocumented immigrants who have been living in the United States for a minimum of five years to remain without the threat of deportation hanging over their heads, thus protecting nine million people. “We have an obligation to enact policies that unite families, not tear them apart,” Sanders declared.
Immigration has become one of the primary topics of the Democratic presidential candidate campaign, as it has for the Republican Party, with Sanders, Martin O’Malley and Hillary Clinton all vying to appeal to Latino voters. Many of the candidates have accused the current Obama administration of being too aggressive with regard to deporting undocumented immigrants living in the United States. Sanders’ proposal is firmly rooted in not waiting for the country’s immigration system to be overhauled by Congress but to instead pursue more executive actions.
The statement released by Sanders comes just a few days after an appeal was filed with the Supreme Court by the Obama administration in connection with the blocking of executive actions on immigration reform by federal courts following a legal challenge by 26 states.