Klobuchar shifts on immigration before Nevada caucuses

Sara Burnett and Michelle L. Price for the Associated Press report that, now campaigning in Nevada, Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar says she no longer believes English should be the national language of the United States.  She is stepping back from a vote she took more than a decade ago. Campaigning in Las Vegas, the Minnesota senator said  that she has changed her stance since voting for an English-language amendment in 2007 and has “taken a strong position against” it. She also blasted President Donald Trump for using immigrants as “wedges” and said as president she would work with Republicans to achieve comprehensive immigration reform.

Klobuchar’s record on immigration is under scrutiny after her third-place finish in the New Hampshire primary this week revived her campaign and sent her on to Nevada’s Feb. 22 caucuses with momentum. She is now navigating a much more diverse electorate, where some of her moderate positions and willingness to vote with her Republican colleagues could be a liability.

Klobuchar was one of 17 Democrats to support a 2007 amendment that would have reversed President Bill Clinton’s executive order requiring federal agencies to provide materials in languages other than English. It passed 64-33, but the larger immigration bill died.

Klobuchar’s campaign website does not appear to include a stated position on immigration.

KJ