Hillary Clinton: A Presidential Candidate Poised to Repeal the 3 and 10 Year Ban

Guest blogger: Katie Hall, second-year law student, University of San Francisco

As part of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility act, Congress included a provision that would prevent undocumented immigrants who had either overstayed visas or entered without inspection from returning to the U.S. legally until after a wait period of either three or ten years, depending on the amount of time they had been in the U.S. This outright ban has separated families and has in fact encouraged some undocumented immigrants to stay in the U.S. who would have left, for fear if they leave they will be denied entry again and must suffer the waiting period. Secretary Clinton is the only presidential candidate that has said she will work to specifically appeal the three and ten year bans, and is the candidate with the most pro-immigration platform.

Clinton has expressed since October 2015 that in the pivotal first 100 days in office comprehensive immigration reform will be a top priority. As an experienced politician, Clinton is not so naïve however to expect that immigration reform will pass in that time period. In anticipation of a difficult Congressional battle over immigration, she stated in February 2016 that regardless the progress, or lack of progress, for comprehensive reform, she will propose separate legislation to specifically repeal the three and ten year bans.

Senator Sanders also has expressed that he would like to overhaul the immigration system but has stressed much more heavily that the proper forum for reform is in Congress, and it will be a legislative battle to make any changes. This could been seen as tempering the American people to prepare for a lengthy immigration debate once the new President takes office in 2017, and he does not want to make false promises to win voters. While both candidates recognize the political challenge, Secretary Clinton has many more connections in Washington to achieve legislative change and has expressed her commitment to using her Presidential leadership to put pressure on the Washington gridlock.

As a former part of President Obama’s administration, Secretary Clinton also is uniquely poised to not only advocate to continue the President’s successful programs, mainly DACA and DAPA, but also to exercise executive enforcement differently. In Secretary Clinton’s own words, “I will do everything I can to protect the President’s executive actions and go further to bring more people relief and keep families together.” While not openly criticizing the administration she was formerly a part of, Secretary Clinton has made it clear that she will not deport families and will curb the amount of deportations currently enacted.

As the most pro-immigrant candidate available, and one candidate with many years of connections in Washington, there is hope that a President Hillary Clinton, will be able to do what a divisive President Obama could not do, enact proper immigration reform. There is also hope in Secretary Clinton because early in her campaign she made clear which issues in immigration reform she feels the most strongly about and will work to repeal regardless of the slow process in a comprehensive reform. The three and ten year bans have proven to be unsuccessful programs, in that they have not curbed the numbers of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. and they have been particularly devastating for people living in this country. Her promise to work to at least end this irrational policy is a demonstration of her commitment to immigration reform and making any progress that a President can.

While President Obama has used his executive actions to the benefit of millions of people, there is only so much one branch of government alone can do. The hope with Secretary Clinton is that her history of actually enacted policies will help to continue the incremental changes that President Obama has started. While the ultimate decisions of immigration form lie in Congress, there is hope that with our first female president in the Oval Office there will be the political will, knowledge, leadership, and connections to make reforms a possibility, even if they need to be done piece by piece.

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