Democrats and Republicans have been embroiled in a political debacle concerning the southern border, and the battle even culminated in a partial government shutdown.
This caused many Democrats to vehemently criticize the President and his stance on immigration.
However, a second partial government shutdown was avoided, but tension still persists as Republicans argue that there is a crisis at the border involving illegal immigration and crimes. On the contrary, Democrats argue that the issue is not as big of a problem as Republicans have marked it up to be.
In turn, the Democratic presidential candidates have highlighted their immigration policies in order to differentiate themselves from the President.
Bernie Sanders, a popular Democratic Socialist candidate that has risen in the polls, is now setting himself apart from the rest of the Democratic candidates by assuring that he’s against open borders as well.
Explaining that poverty at a mass scale would seep into the country and cripple the United States, Sanders asserted that “what we need is comprehensive immigration reform.”
He expressed that “if you open the borders, my god, there’s a lot of poverty in this world, and you’re going to have people from all over the world.”
In turn, Sanders concluded that he doesn’t believe “that’s something that we can do at this point. Can’t do it. So that is not my position.”
As the 2020 Presidential election approaches, many of the other candidates have flirted with the idea of implementing open borders, and Republicans have fought this idea.
Senator Bernie Sanders expressing his disapproval of open borders further highlights the divide that the Democratic party is currently facing, which is something that Democrats looked to correct after the results of the 2018 midterm election.
President Trump has been vocal against the idea of open borders, but he’s since acquired funding to build the wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.
