Gustavo Solis

The Desert Sun

To beat Hillary Clinton in Tuesday's primary election, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders needs the Latino vote.

Sanders spent part of Saturday appealing to Latino voters in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles -- where 90 percent of the residents are Latino.

Inside an event venue called "Casa del Mexicano," which is decorated with murals of Aztec pyramids, Mexican revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata, and the seal of every Mexican state, Sanders hosted a town hall on immigration.

Sanders spoke and answered crowd questions for over an hour. In his opening remarks he portrayed himself as the anti-Trump candidate who embraces immigrants instead of using them as scapegoats.

"I am going to do everything I can to combat the bigotry of (presumptive GOP presidential nominee) Donald Trump and people like him," he told a crowd of about 300.

He vowed to end the exploitation of undocumented workers, expand President Barack Obama's executive actions granting deportation relief to millions, and promised to negotiate international trade deals that benefit workers of all countries instead of just CEOs of companies who hire them.

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While Sanders directed most of his criticism toward Trump, he blasted former President Bill Clinton's international trade deals, specifically NAFTA.

"Our current trade policies going back to NAFTA have not only been a disaster for workers in this country they have been a disaster ... for workers and farmers in Mexico," he said.

He answered several questions from the crowd, which included undocumented mothers, workers, and activists.

Several times, Sanders addressed the need to protect undocumented workers.

"Many of those people who are out working today are being exploited," he said. "There are people in California today -- undocumented people -- who are being cheated from their wages. They are being underpaid, they are being overworked and we know that they cannot stand up for their rights because they are undocumented."

Hillary Clinton vows immigration reform in El Centro

The senator didn't limit himself to immigration. As he has done throughout the campaign, he advocated for free public college, the expansion of healthcare, a federal $15 per hour minimum wage and criticized candidates who received millions of dollars in donations from Wall Street.

Polls have Sanders virtually tied with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Tuesday's California primary. Both candidates are in the midst of last-minute campaigning tours of the state.

This past Wednesday, poll results had Clinton with a two-point lead over Sanders, but by Friday, polls had Sanders leading Clinton by one point.

Following Los Angeles, Sanders is scheduled to make campaign stops in San Diego and San Francisco.

Outside Saturday's Boyle Heights event, residents were pleasantly surprised at Sanders' visit.

Donald Trump draws thousands to Northern California rally

"I'm shocked," said construction worker David Tadeo.

Tadeo, 25, added that he plans to vote for Sanders because he's "been hearing that Bernie's going to help La Raza." He was put off by Clinton's email scandal and never considered voting for Trump.

Sanders supports demilitarizing the U.S. border by replacing walls with surveillance technology like high grade cameras, thermal imaging, and movement sensors.

He also proposes welcoming more refugees into the United States. This includes “classifying unaccompanied minors coming from Latin America and victims of criminal gang activity as distinct groups of people fleeing persecution,” according to his website.