Clinton, Sanders make their pitches at Las Vegas town hall

Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are both fighting to win Nevada.

They made their separate pitches Thursday to Nevada — and the nation — in a town hall event broadcast live on MSNBC and Spanish-language network Telemundo, focused partly on issues affecting Latinos.

The venue underscores the importance of Nevada in the battle for the Democratic nomination and the need for both candidates to capture votes from a diverse electorate when Democrats caucus Saturday. In Nevada, Hispanics make up nearly 28 percent of the population, according to 2014 census data. Hispanics also make up about 17 percent of eligible voters in Nevada, according to the Pew Research Center.

The candidates didn't appear together at the two-hour event, attended by about 250 people at the Keep Memory Alive Event Center in Las Vegas. Sanders answered audience questions during the first hour and Clinton answered questions in the second hour of the program, moderated by José Díaz-Balart of Telemundo and Chuck Todd of NBC and MSNBC.

Asked about his vote against immigration reform in 2007, Sanders said that bill had a guest worker provision that was "almost akin to slavery."

"I don't want to see workers in this country exploited," Sanders said, adding he supported a better immigration reform bill in 2013.

Sanders said he supports a "path toward citizenship." Asked about who would be deported, Sanders said: "If somebody's a violent criminal, they should be deported."

He said he'd like Congress' support to accomplish immigration reform, but said he'd use executive powers as needed.

"My own view is our policy as a nation and what I believe is we should unite families not divide families," Sanders said.

The U.S. senator from Vermont said his proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour would ultimately benefit the economy.

"My view is you put money into the hands of working people who spend it and then you create more jobs," he said.

Sanders said free public education needs to include free tuition at public colleges and universities. In this era, a college degree is as necessary as a high school diploma was 50 years ago, he said.

In her turn to field questions, Clinton said that in Nevada, the state with the highest foreclosure rate in the Great Recession, she'd work to "help relieve the burden on already existing homeowners."

Addressing a Hispanic homeowner who said he had to jump through hoops to get a loan, Clinton said she do everything possible to stop lenders from discriminating.

"I'm running to knock down all of the barriers that stand in the way of people getting ahead," Clinton said.

Clinton, who voted for the 2007 immigration bill, said she'll "immediately begin working" on priority legislation, including immigration reform, if she gets the Democratic nomination.

"I'm not going to waste a minute," she said.

Clinton said she hopes, "Republicans will see the errors of their ways" and quit using immigrants as a divisive issue.

Meanwhile, Clinton said she supports workers' rights to unionize and backs a $12-an-hour federal minimum wage, allowing states to increase it beyond that.

Clinton also defended her husband Bill Clinton's record as president when asked about Sanders' criticism of him, which includes Clinton's Wall Street deregulation and welfare reforms.

Clinton noted that 23 million jobs were created under her husband's watch, and income levels grew for all, including minorities.

Noting Sanders also has criticized President Barack Obama, Clinton suggested maybe Sanders "wasn't really a Democrat" until he decided to run for president.

That comment drew boos from some audience members.

"You know it's true," Clinton responded. "It happens to be true."

Sanders is an independent U.S. senator who caucuses with Democratic members in the Senate.

Six miles away from the town hall, several hundred Democrats dined at the Tropicana for an event hosted by the Clark County Democratic Party. Sanders and former President Bill Clinton spoke.

Sanders touted his campaign's refusal to create a super PAC and instead rely on small donations. His average campaign contribution is $27, he said.

"We chose not to do it that way," Sanders said, referring to super PACs. "And I'm damn proud of that."

Sanders rallied the audience, calling on them to vote in Saturday's caucus, saying, "Democracy is not a spectator sport, it is a participatory effort."

Bill Clinton celebrated Hillary Clinton's work and touched on issues including gun control, prison reform, and campaign finance, the focus of Sanders' speech.

"The differences between us go far beyond the force of big money, although they include that," he said.

Bill Clinton also addressed the Supreme Court vacancy, created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, that has increased tension among Democrats and Republicans. Scalia, a jurist known for his conservatism, died Saturday at a resort in West Texas. He was 79.

"The president should nominate the best person that he can find," Bill Clinton said.

LATINOS WEIGH IN

On Thursday, the Sanders campaign held events with DREAMers, undocumented youth brought to the U.S. as children. These youth cannot vote, but the political push toward immigration reform by many DREAMers has made them influential.

Cesar Vargas, 32, a national Latino outreach strategist with Sanders' campaign, said young Latino voters are more influential for their families than "any multimillion dollar ad buy or big name politicians," alluding to Clinton's many endorsements from other politicians.

Clinton has had events with Nevada DREAMers and is backed by prominent local immigration reform advocates including Astrid Silva and Blanca Gamez.

At noon Thursday, American labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta spoke at one of Clinton's offices.

Huerta views Sanders' efforts to garner Latino voters as opportunistic. Huerta criticized Sanders for voting against a 2007 immigration reform bill and said younger Latino voters that support him don't understand the history. "He could have made a difference," said Huerta. "Now he's coming around because he needs the votes."

Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2904. Find him on Twitter: @BenBotkin1. Contact Alexander S. Corey at acorey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0270. Find him on Twitter: @acoreynews