Activists echoed Murguia’s thoughts, and said they learned their lessons from Obama — who campaigned on making immigration a top priority in 2008 and 2012, but was unable to get it done. This is why Clinton should lean into the issue, they argue. They are ultimately hoping for the type of emphatic attention she devoted to criminal justice issues last week, and the signal that the issue will be a campaign priority, in a speech at Columbia University.
“What would get me to put a Hillary sticker on my car is if she said the president’s executive actions didn’t go far enough and didn’t exercise the totality of discretion,” said one activist whose organization has hit Clinton for her public comments on immigration.
Two sources familiar with Tuesday’s event told BuzzFeed News that Clinton will stress support for a legislative overhaul and a path to citizenship and will ask students about how DACA is working — what is good about the program and what could be done better. But she may also ask about what more a president could do if Congress once again fails to pass legislation, suggesting that she is open to further executive action on immigration, which would delight activists who have seen legislation die in Congress too often to be excited about general calls for “immigration reform” from candidates…

A source familiar with Clinton’s message Tuesday said she will use it as an opportunity to lay out the areas like a pathway to citizenship and support for Obama’s executive actions where Republicans “either have not or can not go because of their party’s politics.”