Immigration dominates Democrats’ debate; heat turned down a bit

MIAMI — Fighting for Florida and beyond, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders tangled in an intense debate Wednesday night over who’s the true friend of American Latinos, trading accusations over guest worker programs “akin to slavery” and the embracing of “vigilantes” against immigrants.

Facing off just six days before Florida’s verdict on the presidential race, Clinton faulted Sanders for repeatedly voting against a 2007 comprehensive immigration reform bill.

Had the immigration package passed back then, Clinton said, “A lot of the issues we are still discussing today would be in the rear-view mirror.”

Sanders retorted that he opposed the legislation because it included a guest worker program “akin to slavery.”

The FBI is investigating the possibility of mishandling of sensitive information that passed through Clinton’s private email server.

Both candidates were bidding for momentum after Sanders surprised Clinton with an upset victory in Michigan on Tuesday.

Clinton at one point accused Sanders of supporting legislation that would have led to indefinite detention of people facing deportation, and for standing with Minutemen vigilantes.