The Politics of Promising to not Deport Children

Julianne Hing writes in The Nation:

Univision anchor Jorge Ramos got what he came for at Wednesday night’s Democratic debate. After aggressive questioning, Ramos compelled both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders to pledge not to deport children if either is elected president. The candidates made news with this stunning campaign commitment, that’s for sure.
. . .
Now, it’s fair to accuse Clinton of gingerly weaving around the issue with lawyerly sophistication. She’s a politician, she’s only a disingenuous friend to immigrants—you’ve heard it all before. But in this case in particular, I don’t mind that Clinton watched her words so carefully. Anyone who’s paid attention to the immigration debate of the last half decade knows that President Obama is still paying for campaign promise he made to get immigration reform passed. Immigrants, activists, advocates are still bruised from years of hopeful waiting, which turned to watching in horror as Obama used ramped up enforcement as a bargaining chip for comprehensive immigration reform which Congress never got around to passing. Read more…

bh