Clinton praises Oscar de la Renta as proud immigrant

Feb 16, 2017

Hillary Clinton has praised Oscar de la Renta as an immigrant success story at an event honoring the late fashion designer with a series of commemorative postage stamps

NEW YORK — Hillary Clinton used a ceremony Thursday honoring Oscar de la Renta to celebrate the contributions of immigrants like the Dominican-born fashion designer who come to America to pursue their dreams.

Speaking at a U.S. Postal Service ceremony dedicating a series of 11 stamps honoring de la Renta, Clinton said the designer was an immigrant "and aren't we proud and grateful that he was?"

"Let there be many, many more immigrants with the love of America that Oscar de la Renta exemplified every single day," she added.

De la Renta, who died in 2014 at age 82, dressed every first lady from Jacqueline Kennedy to Michelle Obama. First daughter Ivanka Trump carried on the tradition by wearing his company's designs during last month's inauguration festivities.

Clinton did not directly address her presidential election loss to Ivanka's father, Republican Donald Trump, but she alluded to Trump obliquely in remarks praising immigrants and the U.S. Constitution.

She said de la Renta was "a fitting person to be chosen by our Postal Service — mentioned, by the way, in the Constitution, something we should all read and reread in today's times."

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who joined Clinton, Vogue editor Anna Wintour and others at the ceremony at New York's Grand Central Terminal, also praised de la Renta as a proud Dominican immigrant.

"Our country is great because we welcome people from around the world. They come here to work hard and build a better future for their families, no matter where they come from," said Bloomberg, a political independent who endorsed the Clinton, a Democrat, for president.

Bloomberg said the U.S. gave de la Renta an opportunity to achieve his dreams and, in return, he helped others achieve theirs.

"That included him speaking up in support of fixing our broken immigration system so that more people would have a chance to make it in America just the way he did," Bloomberg said.

Thursday also marked a nationwide action called "A Day Without Immigrants," illustrating immigrants' contributions to the U.S. economy and way of life.