The Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton has promised a crowd of more than 1,000 Latinos and activists she would remove barriers for immigrants on a path to citizenship if elected president.



Speaking in Brooklyn, New York, Clinton outlined a progressive immigration agenda, vowing to waive application fees associated with naturalization, while repeating calls to expand on President Obama’s executive actions and push to create “a path to full and equal citizenship” for the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US.

“If you work hard, if you love this country and want nothing more to build a good future for you and your children, we should give you a way to come forward and become a citizen,” she said.

The speech was a clear attempt to reach out to the crucial Latino bloc for whom immigration has become a central issue, along with the economy, education and healthcare.

During the address to the annual National Immigrant Integration Conference, Clinton was interrupted several times by hecklers.

One criticized remarks she made in 2014: that unaccompanied minors fleeing violence and poverty in Central America should be “sent back” to their native countries. Another was angry she did not call explicitly for an end to all mass immigration detention. Clinton spoke louder but did not stop or acknowledge the protests.

“We are tired of the same machinery,” said Marco Malagon, an activist from Texas who carried a cardboard sign that read “Not Ready 4 Hillary”, speaking after the address. “Declare a moratorium on detention. Declare a moratorium on immigrant detention until immigration reform passes.”

A protester is ushered out as Hillary Clinton speaks at the National Immigrant Integration Conference. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Clinton was introduced by Luis Gutiérrez, a Democratic congressman from Illinois and a forcible voice in the push for immigration reform, who referred to her in Spanish as the future “presidencia de los estados unidos”.



Gutiérrez made his support for Clinton official in an op-ed published by Univision earlier on Monday. “Hillary is with the Latina community and I am with her,” Gutiérrez wrote. “She will do what is best for Latinos and all Americans. Hillary is poised to propel the country forward and I’m proud to be with her.”

During her speech, Clinton took aim at some of her Republican rivals, drawing a link between Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and the rest of the field.

“They’re all moving toward the extreme and away from the rest of America,” Clinton said.

Clinton’s rivals – Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and the former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley – are due to address the conference on Tuesday.

O’Malley, who is still struggling to make the Democratic contest a three-way race, has criticized his rivals for their indecisiveness on immigration. Last week he called for an end to detention in an effort to distinguish himself from Clinton and Sanders, whose sweeping immigration reforms have largely overshadowed his own progressive agenda.

“Today all eyes will be on Secretary Clinton,” said Gabriela Domenzain, a spokeswoman for the O’Malley campaign. “It’s time she answer to how she has repeatedly put her own political interests before those of the New American immigrant community.”

Clinton has made immigration reform a central focus of her campaign, framing it as a moral and economic issue.

“I want to put an end to families being torn apart,” Clinton said on Monday.

In May Clinton held a roundtable discussion in Las Vegas with the Dreamers, a movement of young activists who were brought to the US as children. There she promised to expand on President Obama’s executive actions and push for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

She also called for measures allowing the parents of Dreamers to apply for legal status and a recalibration of targeted enforcement procedures. She promised to end family detention and close private detention centers.

Yet Clinton has made missteps in her outreach to the Latino community. She was criticized by immigration activists and a Democratic challenger for using the term “illegal immigrants” at a campaign event in New Hampshire. She has since said it was a “poor choice of words” and pledged not to use the term.



In October, Clinton was heckled during a speech at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Gala in Washington by a young organizer with United We Dream Action. In a statement, the group said it wanted Clinton to stop accepting campaign donations from lobbyists associated with the two largest private prison companies. More than 60% of immigration detention beds in the US are operated by for-profit companies.

Subsequently, her campaign said it would no longer accept campaign contributions from those corporations or lobbyists working for them.

America Rising, an anti-Clinton Super Pac, released a video on Monday that attempts to show inconsistencies in the former secretary of state’s record on immigration, contrasted with previous comments by Gutiérrez noting that she struggled to respond to a question during a 2007 debate about whether she would support giving driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants. She now supports such proposals.

“Secretary Clinton’s willingness to say or do anything reached new levels in 2015 when she completely abandoned her previous positions in order to win a primary,” said Jeff Bechdel, America Rising Pac communications director. “While not surprising, it’s a clear indication Clinton is a carefully poll-tested politician, and that’s exactly why a majority of voters say they don’t trust her.”