Ex-president Bill Clinton talks education, immigration at Durham campaign event

Former President Bill Clinton rallied support Tuesday for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, outlining his wife’s education and immigration policies in a brief 30-minute speech.

“If you go to a public college, a historically black college and university, or any other private college that has a preponderance of middle- and lower-income students … if your (family’s) income is $125,000 a year or less, you get free tuition,” he said.

He added that Hillary Clinton’s education plan would allow people to more easily refinance their student loans.

Speaking to more than 700 people at the Community Family Life and Recreation Center at Lyon Park in Durham, Bill Clinton touched on immigration reform, poking fun at Republican nominee Donald Trump’s recent visit to Mexico.

“We can’t afford the $100 billion it costs to send everybody home and build that wall,” Clinton said. “We now know from the back and forth and the trip to Mexico, the Mexicans are not going to build it.

“But that’s not the point. These people are making a net-positive contribution to our economy. It’s very interesting that the places in America where the anti-immigration sentiment is strongest are the places where there are the fewest immigrants … They’ve got other problems and they’re looking for somebody to blame.”

For immigrants who are in the country without legal authorization, Clinton said his wife would offer a pathway to citizenship and would keep President Barack Obama’s programs in place to protect working families and keep them together.

The former president repeatedly called diversity and youth the nation’s greatest assets and touched on issues of equality.

Durham resident Nicole Hensley, 46, attending the rally with her wife Tamra Williams, 38, said she supports Hillary Clinton because of her stance in support of recognizing same-sex marriage.

“The largest issue for me is the fact that we were married last year in North Carolina, and we don’t want anything to change about that,” Hensley said. “I know that Trump and many Republicans would like to overturn our marriage, so the most important issue to me is protecting our right to marry the person that we love.”

Republican leaders in North Carolina have criticized Hillary Clinton’s platform as an extension of Obama policies they say are divisive.

In a news conference Tuesday morning, state Republican Party Chairman Robin Hayes attacked Clinton over her trustworthiness.

“It’s amazing that Tim Kaine, Bill Clinton and all the other surrogates who continue to flood North Carolina seem to have the mistaken conception that their presence here is somehow going to paper over the fact that Hillary Clinton is the most dishonest presidential candidate that we can find in recent and past history,” Hayes said.

“We’ve got to make the right decision,” Bill Clinton said. “We are stronger together and Hilary needs you and North Carolina to make it happen.”

Hillary Clinton’s running mate Kaine spoke earlier in the day in Wilmington about national security.

This story was originally published September 6, 2016 at 9:29 PM with the headline "Ex-president Bill Clinton talks education, immigration at Durham campaign event."