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 Clinton and Sanders, competing for Hispanic votes next Tuesday in
a state where about one-fourth of the population is Latino, promised
to deport only illegal immigrants with criminal records and not to
deport children.
In the event hosted by Spanish-language network Univision and
carried on CNN, they took turns repeatedly ripping into Trump for
his remarks about Mexicans and his pledge to deport all illegal
immigrants living in the United States.
“Look, in this country, immigration reform is a very hot debate,"
said Sanders. "I would hope very much that as we have that debate,
we do not, as Donald Trump and others have done, resort to racism
and xenophobia and bigotry.”
“His idea of suddenly one day or maybe a night rounding up 11
million people and taking them outside of this country is a vulgar,
absurd idea that I would hope very few people in America support,”
the U.S. senator from Vermont said.
Floridians will vote next week in Democratic and Republican
primaries in a state rich in the delegates that candidates need to
become their respective parties' nominees to run in the November
presidential election.
 Trump and his rivals for the Republican nomination - U.S. Senator
Ted Cruz of Texas, Ohio Governor John Kasich, and Florida's U.S.
Senator Marco Rubio - will hold their pre-primary debate in Miami on
Thursday night.
Florida, with its preponderance of Cuban-Americans and Latinos from
other countries, has recently seen an influx of Puerto Ricans
fleeing the U.S. island commonwealth's economic downturn.
Sanders and Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state and U.S.
senator, spent much of their second debate this week currying the
favor of Florida's Latinos, and that of the Hispanic audience
watching nationwide.
Both promised to take a less aggressive approach than President
Barack Obama’s administration toward deportation.
Said Clinton, “I think it's important that we move to our
comprehensive immigration reform, but at the same time stop the
raids, stop the roundups, stop the deporting of people who are
living here doing their lives, doing their jobs, and that's my
priority.”
Sanders and Clinton said they would carry forward Obama’s executive
actions granting relief from deportation for parents of children
born in the United States and for children brought into the country
illegally. Both said they supported creating a legal path to
citizenship for those immigrants.
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Last year, Trump enraged Hispanic activists by labeling Mexicans
criminals and rapists when he announced his campaign, and continued
making inflammatory comments, including proposing a temporary ban on
Muslims entering the country.
Asked by moderators point-blank if Trump is a racist, Clinton
replied, “His rhetoric, his demagoguery, his trafficking in
prejudice and paranoia has no place in our political system.”
For Sanders, it was his first clash with Clinton since his surprise
win on Tuesday in Michigan’s primary. He crowed that some had called
the victory “one of the major political upsets in modern American
history.”
The 74-year-old senator won most of the delegates up for grabs in
Michigan, but Clinton, who won Mississippi on Tuesday, still leads
Sanders with 1,221 delegates to his 571.
While Florida is next Tuesday's biggest prize, contests will also be
held in other states heavy in delegates: Illinois, North Carolina
and Ohio.
In the two-hour debate, Clinton, 68, deflected an unusually large
number of tough questions about her record as secretary of state
under President Obama.
At one point, moderator Jorge Ramos asked her if she would drop out
of the race if she is indicted in the Justice Department's
investigation into her use of a private email server while running
the State Department.
"Oh, for goodness," Clinton replied, visibly frustrated. "That's not
going to happen. I'm not even answering that question."
(Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen. Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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