Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders Clash on Immigration

Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders clashed vividly over immigration reform, health care and Cuba during a contentious debate Wednesday as the two Democrats appealed to Hispanic voters and tried to outdo each other in assailing Donald J. Trump.

Mrs. Clinton, bruised by her surprise loss in the Michigan primary a day earlier, was on the attack throughout the debate as she sought to undercut Mr. Sanders’s momentum before the next round of primaries.

Aiming her remarks at viewers watching on Univision, a Spanish-language sponsor of the debate, Mrs. Clinton threw his past support for Fidel Castro and President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua in Mr. Sanders face and repeatedly criticized him for opposing a 2007 bill that would have created a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants in the country illegally.

€œWe had Republican support, Mrs. Clinton said. €œWe had a president willing to sign it. I voted for that bill. Senator Sanders voted against it.

 She refused to let up when Mr. Sanders explained that he thought the guest worker provisions in the bill were “akin to slavery.” Mrs. Clinton argued that she, Senator Edward M. Kennedy and Hispanic groups would never have supported such a bill. Her broadsides finally became too much for Mr. Sanders when she accused him of supporting “vigilantes known as Minutemen” on the border.

 No, I do not support vigilantes — that is a horrific statement, an unfair statement to make,” Mr. Sanders said. “Madam Secretary, I will match my record against yours any day of the week.”

In their final debate before primaries in Florida, Ohio and other states on Tuesday, the two Democrats were a study in contrasts as they made stark appeals to the demographic groups they have come to prize.

Mrs. Clinton repeatedly aligned herself with the needs and concerns of immigrant families and stuck to her promise to “knock down barriers” in employment and housing, hoping these priorities would inspire Hispanics and African-Americans and deliver her landslide victories in Florida and North Carolina.

Mr. Sanders’s rallying cries against the “rigged economy” and “establishment politics” were aimed at liberals, young people, working-class white voters and independents who could be decisive for him in Ohio, Illinois and Missouri, his top targets next week.

He appeared confident to the point of cocky at times, claiming at one point that Mrs. Clinton had borrowed from his proposals to make public colleges free. “Thank you for copying a very good idea,” he said. He chortled when Mrs. Clinton accused him of not supporting clean energy ideas, and he muttered, “Come on,” when Mrs. Clinton refused to stop speaking.

He also showed he could throw a punch, such as when Mrs. Clinton questioned the cost of his Medicare-for-all plan, saying, If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

 What Secretary Clinton is saying is that the United States should continue to be the only major country on earth that doesn€™t guarantee health care to all of our people, Mr. Sanders said, drawing a stern look from his opponent.

€œI do believe in universal coverage, she fired back. €œRemember, I fought for it 25 years ago.

The debate in Miami came just three days after the candidates€™ last face-off in Flint, Mich., and one day after Mr. Sanders was declared the winner of that state

€™s primary. His unexpected victory infused his campaign with excitement and fund-raising momentum: He was on track to raise $5 million in online donations in the ensuing 24 hours.