Hillary Clinton’s stance on domestic policy

Democratic nominee Hillary has detailed a set of plans on domestic issues that vary greatly from those of her opponent, Republican nominee Donald Trump. Clinton proposes immigration reform that grants further pathways to citizenship for immigrants, gun control policies that expand background checks and criminal justice reform intended to “end the era of mass incarceration”.

Clinton’s immigration policy is focused around creating a pathway to citizenship for immigrants and enforcing immigration laws in a “humane” way. Clinton’s policies are intended to make it easier for immigrants to become citizens, including those who have already overstayed the limits on issued visas. According to Clinton’s campaign website, she will “treat every person with dignity, uphold the rule of law, protect our borders and national security and bring millions of hardworking people into the formal economy.”

To begin with, Clinton intends to end three-year and 10-year bars. These bars are often issued when someone has overstayed their period of admission, whether it be from a work or tourist visa. If they entered the country unlawfully, then there is no period of admission and the bars automatically apply. If they stay longer than the period of admission by 180 days, but leave voluntarily or are removed before a year, then they cannot legally be admitted into the US for three years after their departure or removal. If the stay surpasses one year, then the bar is increased to 10 years. Clinton argues that this forces immigrant families into “a heartbreaking dilemma” in which they must either stay illegally or leave behind loved ones in the state for several years until the bar is complete.

Clinton also plans on increasing the availability of the option of deferred action to sympathetic cases. Deferred action is a process in which an illegal immigrant may apply for temporary exemption from deportation and receive a renewable work visa instead. Clinton advocates for President Obama’s two executive actions on immigration, which offered deferred action for parents of lawful citizens and for unlawfully immigrated minors. The former, known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) has not been passed due to lawsuits between the government and states, but Clinton intends to ensure that it successfully comes into fruition. The latter, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, was passed in 2012, and allows immigrants who arrived before 2010 and below the age of 16 to receive a renewable two-year work visa. Clinton states on her website that she plans on defending both of these from “partisan attacks.”

Clinton’s policies on deportations are meant to be “humane and targeted”. Clinton claims that she will focus resources on deporting those who pose a threat. Clinton has vowed not to be a “deporter-in-chief,” and said at the Iowa Black and Brown Forum that deportation raids were “sowing discord and fear”.

Clinton’s approach to gun control is one of regulation with the intention of preventing gun violence. Clinton plans on expanding background checks to more sales and improving the system as a whole. Clinton claims that by closing the so-called “gun show” and Internet sales loopholes, the amount of background checks will expand, preventing guns from getting into the wrong hands. These are loopholes in the Brady bill, which requires that public gun stores record sales and perform background checks on buyers. The bill does not completely extend to private sellers, which provides the origin of these loopholes. By “closing” the loopholes, Clinton alleges that private sellers will also have to perform background checks in order to legally sell their guns.

Clinton intends to improve the background check system by getting rid of the “Charleston Loophole”. This “loophole” allows gun stores to legally complete a transaction without a verified background check if it has taken over three business days for the government to process the background check.

Clinton has had a history of supporting gun control. In her 1996 book, “It Takes a Village”, Clinton advocated strongly for the Brady Bill, the central legislation behind background checks. In 2004 and 2005, as a New York senator, Clinton voted against legislation prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufacturers for gun violence. In her 2008 bid for the presidency, Clinton took a moderate position, stating her belief in both the Second Amendment and a “common sense approach” to gun control. In 2015, Clinton attacked opponent Bernie Sanders for his position on gun control, saying that he was “not at all [tough]” on guns.

Clinton believes in significant criminal justice reform, indicating that there is systemic racism and other major problems present in the current system. Clinton cites the fact that one in three black men go to prison in their lifetime as proof that there is implicit racial bias in what is already a “mass incarceration epidemic.”

Clinton asserts that the best way to end bias is to “strengthen bonds of trust between communities and police”. Clinton intends to bring the groups together to develop guidelines on the use of force in encounters. She plans on allocating funds to train police against implicit racial bias, and as well in the use of force, de-escalation and community policing. Clinton intends to provide police departments with body cameras while limiting the use of military equipment in local law enforcement units.

Clinton claims that she can end mass incarceration through reducing mandatory minimum sentences, focusing federal resources on violent crime and providing treatment for low-level drug offenders.

Clinton proposes cutting mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses in half, as well as allowing current nonviolent prisoners to seek new sentences. Mandatory minimum sentences are preordained minimum sentences for a crime that cannot be shortened by a judge regardless of the circumstances of the crime. Clinton claimed at the first presidential debate that these sentences “put too many people away for too long for doing too little”.

Clinton’s policies also prioritize treatment and rehabilitation for nonviolent drug offenders, rather than incarceration. Clinton claims that she will ensure that every person suffering from drug addiction can obtain comprehensive treatment, and she intends to allocate significant funds towards preventive programs in communities. Clinton says she will devote $7.5 billion from the federal budget for a federal-state partnership in preventing and treating addiction, which includes diverting nonviolent offenders towards treatment instead of prison. Clinton also states that she will make federal action to instruct the Attorney General to issue guidance on prioritizing treatment over incarceration for such offenders. Clinton also states that she will reform the three strikes system, a system in which repeated offenses earn strikes, and the amount of strikes plays a role in the severity of punishment. Clinton wants to change it so that nonviolent drug offenses do not count as a strike.

Clinton intends to plans to reduce recidivism, or the relapse of a former offender into criminal behavior by promoting re-entry of convicts into society. According to Clinton’s campaign website, she plans on investing $5 billion into re-entry job programs, as well as supporting legislation to restore voting rights to individuals who served their sentences. Clinton has sponsored such legislation in the past; in 2007 she co-sponsored the Second Chance act, which invested in reducing recidivism rates.