Mary Margaret Olohan on March 20, 2019
Democratic New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a 2020 hopeful, said social security and a pathway to citizenship should be rights for immigrants “in the country now” Tuesday at a campaign event in Iowa.
“I have a lot of ideas,” Gillibrand said. “First, we need comprehensive immigration reform. If you are in this country now, you must have the right to pay into social security, to pay your taxes, to pay into the local school system, and to have a pathway to citizenship.”
Gillibrand has been vocal in her thoughts on immigration.
“Immigration is not a security issue. It is an economic and a humanitarian and a family issue,” she said during a town hall with MSNBC on Monday.
She also added there is “no such thing as an illegal human.”
Gillibrand’s words come after she announced her entrance in the 2020 race Sunday.
She also recently said illegal immigrants should be allowed to receive driver’s licenses — though she was formerly against this.
She said in 2007 she did not support giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. She changed her mind in January, saying, “I think we have to make it possible for people to provide for their families.”
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