Hillary Clinton targets Trump in East LA College speech

Her speech was heavy on immigration, hard on Donald Trump and silent on Beie Sanders.

Hillary Clinton is competing in the Califoia primary for the Democratic presidential nomination against Sanders, a Vermont senator, but she was in full general election mode in front of hundreds jammed into a basketball gym at East Los Angeles College Thursday afteoon.

“With all of the challenges we face in the world, we can’t have a loose caon in the Oval Office,” Clinton said. “That is a risk we caot afford.”

•RELATED STORY: Beie Sanders supporters crash Hillary Clinton rally

With Sanders a mathematical long-shot in the Democratic primary race — she is less than 200 delegates shy of securing the party’s nomination — Clinton sought to solidify her standing with Latino voters at a college that has a student population that is 88 percent minority.

Clinton used her speech to push comprehensive immigration reform and promised the crowd she’d keep President Barack Obama’s executive actions in place. One of those is the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which gives undocumented immigrants who entered the United States before their 16th birthday an opportunity to obtain a two-year work permit and avoid deportation.

•RELATED STORY: Bill Clinton stumps for Hillary, takes veiled swipe at Trump

She also said she’d keep the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans in place, which helps undocumented immigrant adults avoid deportation proceedings under similar guidelines.

“We are a nation of immigrants, and I’m am proud of it,” she said. “We are stronger together, and our diversity is one of our strengths. So if people condemn or scapegoat or criticize or demagogue about immigrants, I wonder — where are they living?”

She said Trump’s talk is “hateful and we need to repudiate it.”

Clinton’s swing through Califoia began in the moing with a stop at the Califoia African American Museum, where she was joined by Los Angeles City Councilman Herb Wesson and Los Angeles County District Attoey Jackie Lacey, who is seeking re-election for a second term.

The Democratic frontruer sat at a table with Democratic Congresswomen Maxine Waters and Karen Bass and discussed mental illness, addiction, systemic racism and gun violence. The latter topic also was a key topic for her husband, former President Bill Clinton and actor Brad Pitt at a forum Wednesday night hosted by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

Advertisement

•RELATED STORY: Why the milleial vote could be a game-changer in Califoia primary

While Hillary Clinton spoke in Southe Califoia just days before early voting begins in the state’s June 7 primary, Sanders was in West Virginia campaigning ahead of that state’s primary on Tuesday, with 29 delegates at stake.

Califoia is the big prize, however, with 475 delegates at stake.

While Clinton’s speech didn’t mention Sanders, a couple of hundred protesters outside the college did.

“Who’s supporting Beie Sanders?” a woman on a megaphone yelled to protesters. The crowd cheered.

Inside, about five protesters were removed from the crowd by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies.

The contentious primary between Sanders and Clinton has been heating up in recent weeks, but Clinton kept her lazerlike focus on Trump during the rally, as did the speakers before her, including Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, and Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis.

The crowd waited hours in line to see Clinton speak before filling the gym, and Arlene Castilla of Upland was the first to get in.

She said she’s been a Clinton supporter for months and even hoped to go to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia this summer.

“It’s time, not just because she’s a woman but because she’s got the experience,” Castilla said. “She’s got all the qualifications and she brings a lot to the table.”

As Clinton finished her speech, Castilla raised a poster she made featuring a black and white photo of the former New York senator and waved it while Katy Perry blared over the loudspeakers.

Staff writer Stephanie K. Baer contributed to this report.