PoliticsHillary Clintonborder crisisPolitics

Hillary Clinton: 'I Don't Agree' On Changing Trafficking Laws To Address Border Crisis

Hillary Clinton Breaks From Obama On Border Crisis
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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday that she opposes changes to a 2008 law meant to help unaccompanied children and teenagers who crossed the border illegally, and instead endorsed the idea of screening minors in their native countries before they make a dangerous trek to the U.S.

"We should be setting up a system in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador to screen kids. Before they get in the hands of coyotes, or they get on the 'Beast,' or they're raped. Terrible things happen to them," she told Fusion's Jorge Ramos, referring to the "Beast," a series of freight trains that minors from Central America are riding to get through Mexico to the U.S.

Border patrol agents have apprehended more than 57,500 unaccompanied minors crossing the border illegally since the beginning of October, straining the country's system of caring for, screening and possibly deporting the children and teenagers.

"If we don't have a procedure, it's not going to stop," Clinton said. "More kids are going to come."

She differed from President Barack Obama and many Republicans on whether to change the 2008 trafficking law that keeps unaccompanied minors from countries other than Mexico and Canada from being quickly deported.

While Obama initially said he wanted Congress to change the 2008 law, he did not propose legislative changes in his $3.7 billion funding request earlier this month, angering Republicans who say he flip-flopped on the issue. The administration has, however, continued to back changing the law at a later date.

"I don't agree that we should change the law," Clinton said. "That's why I'm advocating an appropriate procedure, well funded by the Congress, which they are resisting doing, so that we can make individual decisions."

Clinton said the U.S. could instead screen minors in their native countries to determine whether they would be eligible for refugee status or some other type of relief.

Watch the full video at Fusion.

Clinton said in June that unaccompanied minors "should be sent back as soon as it can be determined who responsible adults in their families are."

Pressed on that point by Ramos, Clinton stood by her statement that some minors should be deported.

"Some of them should be sent back," she said, adding that those without a legitimate claim for asylum or some type of family connection should be deported and returned to their families.

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Before You Go

11 Ways Immigration Reform Helps The Economy
Reform Would Help Curb The Deficit(01 of11)
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Immigration reform would reduce the federal deficit by $2.5 trillion over the next 10 years, according to an April analysis by the American Action Forum, a conservative think tank. (credit:Getty Images)
Expelling Immigrants Is Expensive(02 of11)
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Expelling the approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants currently in the United States would cost $2.6 trillion over the next 10 years, according to CNBC. That's because it costs the government more than $8,000 to deport each person. (credit:Getty Images)
Reform Would Help Fix The Social Security Problem(03 of11)
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Immigration reform would help bolster Social Security because more legal workers would mean more people contributing payroll taxes to its trust fund, according to an analysis from the Social Security administration. Undocumented workers already contribute $15 billion per year to Social Security. (credit:AP)
Immigrants Start Successful Businesses(04 of11)
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More than a quarter of technology and engineering firms started between 1995 and 2005 had a foreign-born owner, according to the Washington Post. One of the founders of Yahoo!, Jerry Yang, is an immigrant from Taiwan. (credit:AP)
Reform Would Save $410 Billion Over The Next 10 Years(05 of11)
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The immigration reform bill proposed by the "gang of eight" senators would save $410 billion over the next decade, according to an analysis from Gordon Gray, the director of fiscal policy at the American Action Forum, a conservative think tank. The savings would come largely from a boost in GDP resulting from undocumented immigrants gaining citizenship and in turn likely making more money. (credit:AP)
High-Tech Companies Say Reform Would Boost Their Bottom Line(06 of11)
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Companies like Microsoft and Google have said that immigration reform would help them by allowing for more H1B visas, a special kind of visa geared toward highly-skilled immigrants. The tech giants say they can't find enough qualified people in the U.S. to fill their staffing needs. (credit:AP)
Reform Would Boost The Wages Of Native-Born Workers(07 of11)
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U.S.-born workers see between a 0.1 and 0.6 percent boost in wages on average with an increase in immigration, according to a January report from the Hamilton Project, an economic policy initiative of the nonpartisan Brookings Institution. That's because immigrant workers bring skills with them that complement those of native-born workers, leading to new jobs. (credit:AP)
Immigrants Are Entrepreneurial (08 of11)
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Immigrants are more than twice as likely than native-born Americans to start new businesses, according to a White House report on immigration reform. (credit:AP)
Reform Would Boost GDP By More Than $1 Trillion Over 10 Years(09 of11)
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Immigration reform would boost GDP by $1.5 trillion -- or about 1 percent -- over 10 years, according to an estimate from UCLA professor Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda cited by CNBC. (credit:AP)
Immigrants Create Jobs(10 of11)
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Businesses owned by immigrants created 4.7 million jobs in the U.S. in 2007, according to a White House report on immigration reform. (credit:AP)
Reform Would Bring In More Money Than It Costs In Benefits(11 of11)
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Though many critics of immigration reform argue against the cost of providing increased public benefits, analysts say higher spending is not a likely consequence. A Congressional Budget Analysis of George W. Bush's 2007 immigration reform proposal found that it would cost the government $23 billion in more public services, but bring in $48 billion in revenue, according to the Washington Post. (credit:Getty Images)
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