Clinton says she supports the death penalty in federal cases but is more ambivalent about it at the state level. Federal executions, however, are rare, and it’s taking longer and longer to carry them out. The federal government hasn’t put anyone to death since 2003.
Farai Chideya
The commercial breaks give us a window into the political process. An ad by the group NumbersUSA advocating lowering immigration has been showing repeatedly during the debates, including this one.
If Sanders’s position on immigration had a social media tag, it would be #itscomplicated. Sanders has stated: “I frankly do not believe that we should be bringing in significant numbers of unskilled to workers to compete with [unemployed] kids. I want to see these kids get jobs.” But one recent research study by academics from Indiana University and the University of Virginia found that immigrants help create jobs. Others point to the declining overall labor participation rate in America and argue that immigrants are diminishing the opportunities for native-born Americans. Japan, a nation which has below-replacement birth rates and does not allow widespread immigration, slipped into a recession again late last year, with many analysts arguing that it must open its borders in order to find a path to recovery.
In the United States, of course, immigration affects much more than labor markets. A 1965 immigration act broadened access to immigrants from the developing world, who were previously largely shut out. Since then, our nation’s demographics have transformed.
