 Bernie Sanders was asked about his supposed activism for open borders and since he does not support open borders since that's a straw man He shot down this notion that he supports the idea of open borders This is what he had to say specifically How would you deal with the social services connected to with Opening the borders such as health care medical medical care Who do you think is suggested in opening the borders well that you're an activist for opening for no I'm not afraid you may getting your information wrong. That's not my view. Okay. I apologize. Thank you. I Think what we need is comprehensive immigration reform That is not simply you're quite right if you if your point is you open the borders my god You know There's a lot of poverty in this world and you're gonna 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 that is not my position now initially when I saw this video I didn't think anything of it because I think it's obviously the case that Bernie Sanders does not support open borders, however mainstream media along with Neoliberal centrists are trying to weaponize his answer and turn it into a thing and there are plenty of examples of them doing this But let me just show you this one here from max boot who says Bernie Sanders is truly the Democratic Trump So understand what's happening here back in 2016 when Hillary Clinton Reportedly said that she supports open trade borders. She was attacked because she was quoted as saying Open borders now people were taking her out of context because she wasn't saying I support open borders with regard to Who we allow into the country I support open trade borders It's basically the hallmark of Neoliberalism So that was a controversy because she supposedly supported open borders But now it's also a controversy because Bernie Sanders Doesn't support open borders. So really what this demonstrates is that there is absolutely no consistency whatsoever from the mainstream media and centrists because Suddenly we're all supposed to accept that it is the correct position to be in favor of open borders because Bernie Sanders is against it Now are there people on the left that actually do support open borders? Sure, but it is a fraction of The aggregate left but by and large most lefties most socialists that I know do not support open borders Is it in an ideal that we can strive towards one day? Sure I think in a perfect world in an ideal situation open borders would be fantastic But currently when global capitalism reigns supreme When we already see open borders for trade for capital for war I think that adding human beings to the mix would simply open the doors to more Exploitation so even though lefties like myself can philosophically say one day open borders would be great I think a lot of us most of us have this position that open borders currently under the current International system would not be something that we support because it's just not Pragmatic it would lead to more problems and even if people make a moral and philosophical argument in favor of it Those people are just the small minority But I watched a video from Kyle Kalinske you talked about this and I think that he points out a really important thing that we see Happening all the time with regard to Bernie Sanders what they're trying to do is weaponize this issue against Bernie Sanders and Since oftentimes Fox News and the right have to strum and the left since they don't really have a Substitute rebuttal to the policy arguments We make since there's really not that many people on the left who currently support open borders What they have to do is they have to try to go the left into turning against Bernie Sanders So we then attack him for saying he's against open borders so that way they can then say ah ha I told you that the left was in favor of open borders. Do you see do you see how crazy they've become? Do you see how far left and unhinged they are now? This is the modern left that is exactly what they're trying to do And I think we need to be savvy enough to acknowledge the nefarious agenda that people in the mainstream media and the right and Centrists all have because they want to take down Bernie Sanders They're trying to use this as evidence to validate the straw man that they've created now There are legitimate criticisms of the way that Bernie Sanders answered that question even if I personally Support more lax immigration laws and I think we need to do what we can to reduce the barriers that prohibit freedom of movement I do worry just from a foreign policy perspective because what did the Bush doctrine do it? Essentially tried to get rid of borders when it comes to war. It said we are allowed the United States We can unilaterally go wherever terrorism is and we don't need to get permission from the United Nations We don't need to get congressional approval the United States executive branch. Can unilaterally go wherever there is terrorism? Which essentially gives them the green light to disrespect borders now when it comes to a country like Pakistan and the reason why I'm in favor of borders Having borders having a nation-state Committing to this idea that we respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries is important because that's what? bolsters Pakistan's legal argument because we're doing drone strikes in Pakistan's backyard and Their courts have ruled that these drone strikes are illegal and they are so even if we don't recognize Pakistani law as the United States will objectively speaking they're illegal We are not allowed to be conducting drone strikes in their backyard and we are terrorizing Pakistani civilians if you read articles I actually wrote a grad paper about this The psychological toll that our drone strikes is having on individuals in Pakistan is really disgusting Whenever it's sunny outside children are afraid to go outside because that means that there's gonna be more drones patrolling the skies They hear the buzzing they have PTSD because of it they know people who were bombed or injured by drones and We're terrorizing these people. It's horrible So the reason why I think that borders in this day and age are important is because that imbues Pakistan with this legal authority to say we do not condone what you are doing and you're not respecting our borders now I would love to say that we're able to disentangle the human aspect of borders that is people moving across borders and the war aspect but currently there's just too much Unforeseen consequences that could come up that could go wrong that leads to human beings being exploited even more Which is why I just think that this is Pandora's box But with that being said as I stated do we do what we can to reduce the barriers that exist that currently prevent the freedom of movement? absolutely because I believe in fairly lax immigration laws and I think that people who were impacted by our country's imperialism should essentially be given an Exploited immigration process So if you're from Iraq if you're from Syria and US imperialism has ruined your life Then I think that we should hear your case first We should prioritize you and we should make sure that citizenship for you is a priority So I do think that working within our current Conception of what a nation-state is and abiding by borders We do what we can to allow for the free flow of people across borders if they want to explore the planet that they live on But at the same time I don't support this idea And I think that Bernie Sanders even if he probably could have worded this in a better way Open borders is functionally something that is going to do more harm than good It's basically a right-wing ideal because we already have open borders for capital and trade and now war essentially But if we open up borders for the movement of people even if that is philosophically and intrinsically a left-wing ideal in It's application it's gonna serve the interests of right-wingers and libertarians and global capitalism more than anything So this is what I'll say you can disagree with Bernie Sanders here You can disagree with him semantically but by and large don't take the bait and don't try to give the right the Ammunition that they're looking for to demonize the left There are some people online that are trying to take the bait that's being set by Sandrists and neoliberals who are trying to find some way to outflank Bernie Sanders from the left Even if they don't genuinely agree with that left-wing ideal, but like max boot who's an anti-trump Republican He's a right-winger. He's saying look lefties Bernie Sanders isn't lefty when it comes to open borders And it's incredibly disingenuous and I want people to be more savvy and acknowledge that Outflanking Bernie Sanders from the left is something that we need to listen to from good-faith actors and not bad-faith actors So if I say Bernie needs to do better when it comes to drones and he needs to have a better response to this question about Drones and what he would do as president. That's me being a good-faith actor and actually challenging him Genuinely from the left but to listen to people like max boot who's challenging him from the right and is jumping to the left To hit him from the left you've got to acknowledge that this is all part of an underlying agenda to de-legitimize him because he is the front-runner It's now currently the case that mainstream news outlets are acknowledging rightfully so that he is the front-runner So you're gonna see this more and more They're gonna take whatever policy position they can outflank him on the left from and try to get him to look bad Don't take the bait you can disagree philosophically But acknowledge that most people on the left have a real Substitutive argument as to why we're against open borders currently you can disagree with that and so argue for that position But don't take the bait now since I showed you an example of a bad-faith argument from Jennifer Rubin I put that up on the screen I do want to show you an example of someone who's a good-faith actor who supports Bernie Sanders Who took issue with the way he answered that question because I do think that this is a more nuanced way you should respond to Bernie Sanders if you disagree and Not basically pounce on him in a way that the establishment wants you to so Daniel Denver Who is a Jacobin writer says Bernie's comment on open borders was bad? It was politically unnecessary It played into a right-wing nativist trap and it was deeply misleading Immigration flows from Mexico for example have never been primarily shaped by border enforcement Rather these flows have been the product of political economic realities in both countries including migrant networks slash pathways shaped in significant part by US capital Capital only favors open borders for capital not for people the history is clear the advance of neoliberalism and its opening of Borders for free movement of capital has coincided with the brutal and lethal hardening of borders for the third world workers That's not a coincidence. This serves capital twice it a foments a segmented labor force ripe for Differential exploitation and be it creates a useful scapegoat for the misery capital imposes Bernie needn't call for open borders though that like worker control of means of production is my goal The open borders question is often a misleading one because it presupposes that there are only two options Zero border controls or today's dystopian reality of border militarization Bernie can demand a more open border without demanding open borders now when Bernie is asked about open borders He needs to respond wrong question in the last three decades We have nearly quintupled the size of our border patrol and built hundreds of miles of border Wall of a border wall a measure that I voted against in 2006 in doing so We have militarized the border beyond recognition Which has caused thousands of migrant deaths in the desert and harmed millions in borderlands communities people who have told me that They don't want to live in a police state and don't want to be cut off from their Mexican sister cities to which they have such deep Long-standing social and economic ties. We have trumped today in part because we have had decades of scapegoating Undocumented immigrants for the harms caused by an economy and government controlled by the 1% for their excessive benefit It's no coincidence. NAFTA was accompanied by a massive crackdown on illegal immigration Roman manual put it clearly to Clinton in the 1996 memo the US They believed had to crack down on illegal immigrants to quiet opposition to free trade And so we must demilitarize the border and ensure that it is open to asylum seekers fleeing economic devastation and violence a situation created by our country's policies in Central America and with regard to Mexico They are our next-door neighbor and US business has for more than a century relied on recruiting and exploiting Mexican migrant labor it is a moral and hypocritical to suddenly say that Mexicans our neighbors are not welcome here People say that Mexicans should come legally Do you know how many years a Mexican relative of US citizen has to wait to do that? Mexicans need sufficient legal pathways to migrate so they can reunite with their families if you are against unauthorized Migration you must provide Mexicans with the way to migrate legally We must push Bernie, but he is already easily the best Democratic primary candidate on immigration He voted against 2006 Secure Fence Act unlike Obama Clinton and Biden He voted against the 2007 reform bill that included Recony enforcement and guest worker program voted against 1996 Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act which greatly expanded power to detain and deport He was one of just 87 members of House to vote no on catastrophic illegal immigration reform and immigrant responsibility act Bernie stood in solidarity with Central American revolutionaries during the 1980s It was the US backed dirty wars the murderous and even genocidal destruction of these revolutions That is at the root of today's migration crisis Bernie must do better on immigration and he can so I think that this is The perfect example of a good faith critique of Bernie Sanders argument because after not really thinking much about his answer I do think that Daniel makes a phenomenal point that Bernie Sanders does need to come up with a better response If he's asked about this question because I think that more nuance is Completely appropriate for this type of question because this is a very loaded question And it's a controversial topic that is ripe for mischaracterization and straw manning but to be fair to Bernie Sanders I don't think he was prepared to mount a comprehensive defense as to why we should have closed borders I think he was just shooting down this notion that he supports open borders because he doesn't that's a straw man So I'll leave it there