Hillary Clinton targets Hispanic vote in Nevada

Hillary Clinton, the Democrat hoping to reinvigorate her presidential bid with a win in Nevada today, has targeted the state's large Hispanic population with new promises on immigration reform.

Coming from Iowa with a tiny win under her belt and nursing a landslide defeat in New Hampshire, Mrs Clinton enters the third qualifying round of the Democratic primary seeking victory behind her "firewall" of minority supporters against a surging Bernie Sanders.

The former secretary of state has criticised Mr Sanders for the Vermont senator’s vote against a 2007 comprehensive immigration Bill. He rejected the Bill as it would have driven down wages for American workers by letting employers recruit lower-paid foreign guest workers.

At a televised town hall discussion hosted by MSNBC on Thursday night, Mrs Clinton promised to introduce an immigration reform Bill in her first 100 days in office as president and vowed to repeal the three- and 10-year bars against returning immigrants who were deported.

Both proposals would help an unknown number of illegal Irish migrants who will benefit from a wider overhaul of immigration laws.

With an eye on the South Carolina primary next Saturday, Mrs Clinton picked up a vital endorsement yesterday when one of the southern state's congressmen Jim Clyburn, the highest-ranking African-American in Congress, backed her presidential bid.

Most Democrats in Congress have endorsed Mrs Clinton contributing to her commanding lead among the super-delegates who will help choose the Democratic nominee. Of 234 Democrats in Congress, 192 have backed her.

Black vote

Mr Clyburn’s support will help her with black voters who dominate the Democratic primary in South Carolina and have already given her a massive 24-point average lead over Mr Sanders in the state.

The race is tighter in Nevada where poll on average have given her a two-point advantage over Mr Sanders in a virtual dead heat.

Candidates are chosen in community forums known as caucuses in Nevada rather than direct secret ballots, a nominating process that can make the outcome extremely difficult to predict.

The democratic socialist’s win in New Hampshire has given him momentum that has eroded Mrs Clinton’s lead to just five points in an average of national polls. The most recent national poll, by Fox News on Thursday, left her “feeling the Bernie,” putting Mr Sanders ahead of her for the first time, by 47 per cent to 44 per cent.