Hillary Rodham Clinton, answering an emotional plea from an undocumented immigrant in New York on Thursday, said that she strongly supports comprehensive immigration reform and called on the Republican-led House to pass legislation granting a path to citizenship.
Clinton’s remarks came at a girls’ empowerment forum, part of the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation’s “No Ceilings” initiative. A young woman tearfully asked Clinton what she would do to fix the nation’s immigration problem and testified that her educational opportunities were being stymied because she is an undocumented immigrant. She called this “an extreme glass ceiling for me that I can’t control.”
Clinton replied: “I believe strongly we are missing a great opportunity by not welcoming people like you and 11 million others who have made contributions to our country into a legal status so you don't have to worry, you can go to school, you can work, you can pursue your dreams.”
Clinton said she is “strongly in favor” of the bipartisan immigration bill passed in the Senate and that it is “a big missed opportunity for our country” that the House has not taken up the legislation.