Martin O’Malley’s immigration policy wins support from Jorge Ramos and Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

'If you want to know what pro-immigrant voters are looking for in a presidential candidate, read former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s 8-page immigration plan. It reads a laundry list of immigrant activist demands, and goes far beyond the comparatively timid pledges of O’Malley’s democratic primary rivals, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Healthcare for undocumented immigrants, an overhaul of the U.S. Border Patrol, enshrining sanctuary cities, erasure of punitive immigration laws, and an end to Obama’s Priority Enforcement Program.

That advocacy has won O’Malley the praise of leading voices in the Latino community, including Hispanic Chamber of Commerce CEO Javier Palomarez, who sounded off on the immigration to to MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Thursday.

“Frankly, the best plan I’ve seen -- and I’ve had plenty of time to speak to all of the candidates -- is from Martin O’Malley,” Palomarez said. “He has put forward a robust plan for how we move forward, and how we begin to fix this immigration system that’s been broken for some time now.”

All three top Democratic candidates agree on a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million immigrants in the country illegally, and want to create outreach programs to increase citizenship rates among permanent residents. Yet O’Malley’s plan goes even further, and gets into specifics

For example, he proposes eliminating 3-to-10-year bars on green card applications, an automatic punishment currently imposed on immigrants caught in the country illegally. He’s also offered an overhaul of the scandal-ridden Border Patrol, and changing a key element of the immigration courts: access to attorneys.

Unlike criminal defendants, immigrants facing deportation don’t have access to lawyers. Those who can’t afford an attorney or fail to court pro bono representation face an overwhelming disadvantage in the legal system.

Immigrant advocates have criticized Clinton for supporting the expedited removal of unaccompanied minors without legal representation. She’s since backpedaled on those statements somewhat, characterizing the influx of unaccompanied minors in 2014 as a unique “crisis.”

“I think they certainly deserve lawyers to make their case for asylum for them,” O’Malley said of unaccompanied minors, speaking to the Latin Times in September at a campaign event in Los Angeles.

is plan was released in July. You can read it here.

Palomarez wasn’t the first Latino influencer to sound off on O’Malley’s plan. Latino Rebels listed O’Malley’s immigration plan in an article describing him as the candidate that had “taken the lead on Latino issues.” Jorge Ramos even gave it a nod.

@MartinOMalley released the most inclusive immigration plan so far. Includes healthcare for undocumented immigrants. https://t.co/Xcv1SNfaYf

— JORGE RAMOS (@jorgeramosnews) July 14, 2015'

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/10/martin-omalleys-immigration-policy-wins-support-from-jorge-ramos-and-hispanic-chamber-of-commerce/