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Wait, did Bernie Sanders ​really say America 'can't do' open borders since poor from 'all over the world' will come here? Yes, he did.
Image source: YouTube screenshot

Wait, did Bernie Sanders ​really say America 'can't do' open borders since poor from 'all over the world' will come here? Yes, he did.

'I don't think that's something that we can do at this point. Can't do it.'

Democratic socialist U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders quickly corrected one person's assumption at a weekend town hall that he's an "activist" for open borders.

Sanders — who's running again for president in 2020 — told a man who asked how he'd handle social services with the influx of people that open borders is not his position.

The Vermont senator added to the questioner during Sunday's event Oskaloosa, Iowa, that "you're getting your information wrong. That is not my view."

'My God'

"I think what we need is comprehensive immigration reform," Sanders noted soon after, adding that "if ... you open the borders, my God. You know, there's a lot of poverty in this world, and you're gonna 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. So [open borders] is not my position."

Here's the clip:

How might 'younger progressives' react?

Allahpundit noted for Hot Air that Sanders, "for all his radicalism ... is enough of a traditionalist to believe the U.S. government should privilege the welfare of U.S. citizens over foreigners, at least economically."

"Some younger progressives" won't be down with Sanders' response, Alllahpundit added, but he's "amassed such a tremendous amount of goodwill from leftists that he can get away with affronts to wokeness that more mainstream Democrats running for president can't."

What are other Democratic hopefuls saying about open borders?

President Donald Trump last July tweeted that "the Liberal Left, also known as the Democrats, want to get rid of ICE, who do a fantastic job, and want Open Borders. Crime would be rampant and uncontrollable! Make America Great Again."

But around that time, now-Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and Kirsten Gillibrand echoed Sanders' call to abolish ICE — but didn't come out in favor of open borders.

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke said in October 2018 that "we do not need walls" — an opinion the former congressman repeated in February, saying he'd knock down the border wall in El Paso if he could — but he also said last year that he's "not in favor of open borders."

Anything else?

While a New York Times fact check from last June indicated Democrats do not want open borders, the National Review noted in February that "Democrats can deny all they want that they support open borders, but the budget is the policy, and open borders is where it leads."

(H/T: Hot Air)

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Dave Urbanski

Dave Urbanski

Sr. Editor, News

Dave Urbanski is a senior editor for Blaze News and has been writing for Blaze News since 2013. He has also been a newspaper reporter, a magazine editor, and a book editor. He resides in New Jersey. You can reach him at durbanski@blazemedia.com.
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