Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton made a strong statement about immigration on Tuesday, promising to support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.

While speaking to a predominately Hispanic high school in Las Vegas, the former Secretary of State delivered a speech pushing for a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented residents across the nation.

"We can't wait any longer for a path to full and equal citizenship," Clinton said at Rancho High School, which is largely comprised of "DREAMers," young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children, according to USA Today Politics.

The leading Democratic contender also took a jab at presidential hopefuls in the Republican Party who are have either expressed opposition to a path to citizenship or have not been consistently supportive of it.

"When they talk about legal status, that is code for second-class status," Clinton said.

Before speaking at the event, Clinton's campaign announced she would support an immigration plan that "treats everyone with dignity and compassion, upholds the rule of law, protects our border and national security, and brings hard-working people out of the shadows and into the formal economy so they can pay taxes and contribute to our nation's prosperity."

An aide to the former first lady also said she will focus on the need to pass reform legislation, strengthen the U.S border and bring "millions of hard-working people out of the shadows and into the formal economy so they can pay taxes and contribute to our nation's prosperity."

On the other hand, during a recent discussion at the National Review Institute's Ideas Summit in Washington, D.C, GOP presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio stated that he would prioritize securing American borders and "modernizing" the legal immigration system before implementing a pathway to citizenship.