On Immigration, Front-Runners Make Promises They Can't Keep

Ruben Navarrett Jr. on Mar 23, 2016

Ramos wasn't satisfied with that answer. Nor should he have been. The Obama administration has given "prioritizing" enforcement a bad name by putting some illegal immigrants (college-educated Dreamers) at the back of the deportation line while moving others (Central American refugees) to the front. The whole concept has become just another way for the White House to manipulate immigration policy to achieve political goals.

Determined to get more out of the candidate, Ramos broadened the question beyond children and asked Clinton point-blank if she, as president, would commit to not deporting "immigrants who don't have a criminal record."

Though she probably knew better, Clinton took the bait.

"Of the people, the undocumented people living in our country, I do not want to see them deported," she said. "I want to see them on a path to citizenship. That is exactly what I will do."

As you can see, the Democratic front-runner left herself some wiggle room -- but not much. If elected president, she is likely to be as tough on immigration enforcement as Obama has been -- if not tougher. Some of her supporters are bound to be disappointed.

But what did they expect? While Trump makes the outlandish promise to anti-immigrant voters that he will deport 11 million people, Clinton goes overboard by promising Latinos and other pro-immigrant voters that she'll stop deporting the undocumented altogether. Those are promises that neither candidate can keep. So why bother making them?

Real problems require real solutions. And we can't get there without real leadership.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.