Even with immigration policies, Inslee keeps to his climate change message

Presidential hopeful Jay Inslee released his immigration plan today.

If elected to the White House he has ambitious plans to end the Muslim ban and halt construction of the southern border wall within the first 100 days.

Inslee also plans to restore protections for 800,000 DACA recipients and set up an expedited track to citizenship for them, along with another path for an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants.

While not altogher surprising for a Democrat, Inslee’s plan is the only so far to uniquely tie climate change to migration.

He points to examples like Guatemala, once a coffee capitol where the impact of water scarcity limits coffee growing and ultimately people’s livelihoods. He argues that if the U.S. invested foreign aid in Central America and created climate resilient jobs, the U.S. could stem the number of future refugees.

Inslee’s immigration plan is one of the first among Democratic candidates. Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have a couple paragraphs on immigration reform on their campaign sites, but they're nothing compared to the plans set out by Beto O’Rourke and Julian Castro, which look to either end or limit enforcement and detention altogther.

In a crowded race, Inslee faces a major challenge: Not that many Latinos know his name. And though immigration affects more than just Latinos, it is a top issue for many voters.

A recent Latino Decisions/NALEO poll in April asked Latinos about 2020 Democratic candidates. While nearly a quarter of Latinos identified Inslee as somewhat or very favorable, 57% said they had no opinion or had never even heard of him.

Meanwhile, that same poll identified Biden and Bernie as the leaders with 59% and 58% favorability levels, respectably.

Inslee will be trying to move the needle on those numbers this weekend at the Unity and Freedom Presidential Forum in California.