Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders told Democrats at a town hall in Oskaloosa, Iowa Sunday that American “can’t do” open borders.
Sanders was answering questions from the audience when he dropped what appeared to be the provocative response.
Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks at a campaign rally in Concord, New Hampshire, U.S., March 10, 2019. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
“How would you deal with the social services connected with opening the border, such as health care?” Sanders was asked by an attendee. (RELATED: Trump: Pelosi Wants ‘Open Borders’ And ‘Doesn’t Mind Human Trafficking’)
“Who do you think is suggesting opening the border?” Sanders asked back. He then went on to explain: “You’re getting your information wrong; that is not my view.”
The senator elaborated: “If you open the borders, there’s a lot of poverty in this world, and you’re going to have people from all over the world. And I don’t think that’s something that we can do at this point. Can’t do it.”
Bernie Sanders slams Democrats’ open borders agenda: “If you open the borders, there’s a lot of poverty in this world, and you’re going to have people from all over the world. And I don’t think that’s something that we can do at this point. Can’t do it.” pic.twitter.com/35uuRhdoeq
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) April 7, 2019
It’s not the first time that Sanders has emphatically stated that he does not support open borders. In a Vox interview in 2015, Sanders called open borders “right-wing policy.” (RELATED: The Key To Winning In 2020 Will Be Properly Explaining Socialism, Says Bernie Sanders)
“Open borders? No, that’s a Koch brothers proposal,” he said. “That’s a right-wing proposal, which says essentially there is no United States. What right-wing people in this country would love is an open-border policy.”
FILE PHOTO: Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during an event to introduce the “Medicare for All Act of 2017” on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., September 13, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo
Sanders’s opponent for the 2016 Democratic Party presidential nomination had an entirely different position. Hillary Clinton called open borders her “dream.”
