Branding her White House run against Donald Trump "a referendum on immigration," Hillary Clinton assured a gathering of Hispanic and black journalist she plans to create a new office of Immigrant Affairs if she is elected.

Speaking before a recent conference, Clinton insisted the new creation would be a step toward reaching her goal of comprehensive immigration reform aimed at benefiting millions and ultimately a move toward assuring them a pathway toward citizenship.

Preserving DACA, DAPA

"I will defend DACA and DAPA while I work vigorously for immigration reform," said Clinton, already on record in asserting she plans to propose comprehensive legislation within the first 100 days of her administration. "I have proposed an Office of Immigrant Affairs for the White House so that we are able to answer questions and provide information and help people."

The new face of the Democratic Party also vowed to take a long, hard look at deportation, insisting that her standard in taking such drastic actions will be targeting violent criminals and those suspected of having terrorist connections, not the working moms and dads who contribute up to $12 billion per year in Social Security taxes.

"We will close private detention centers, just like I want to end private prisons," she added. "We're going to close private detention centers. So, I have a very active agenda and we're going to be moving on it and I believe -- and you know, obviously it depends upon the outcome of this election - which is why it's so important to register more voters."

Trump's Deportation Promise

Clinton also called out Republicans for their hard-line stance on immigration, which includes a vow from GOP nominee Donald Trump to deport up to 12 million immigrants and build a wall along the Mexican border to further keep them out.

"If you remember, after the 2012 election, the Republican National Committee did what they called an autopsy of their loss and concluded that they could not continue to deny the importance of immigration reform, and they urged Republicans running for office to get on board," she said. "Now, that hasn't turned out the way that they seemed to have hoped. We have, instead, a Republican nominee who has been virulently anti-immigrant."

Clinton also let it be known she is hoping Democrats can regain control of congress, which would make it easier for her to execute her plan of comprehensive immigration reform.

"My campaign is trying to register 3 million more voters, convince people to turn out, because we're going to start early and we're going to be tenacious and absolutely committed to getting a positive result," she added. "I think the chances, once we win, will improve dramatically."