Matt M. Miller on July 30, 2019
Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said the U.S. would have “strong border protection,” an idea President Donald Trump frequently touts, during the second round of 2020 Democratic presidential debates, then quickly criticized Trump’s “racism” and “xenophobia.”
CNN debate moderator Dana Bash asked Sanders how offering illegal immigrants public services would not attract more of them to enter the country.
“Sen. Sanders, you want to provide undocumented immigrants free health care and free college. Why won’t this drive even more people to come to the U.S. illegally?” Bash asked.
“We’ll have strong border protections,” Sanders answered.
“But the main point I want to make, is that what Trump is doing, through his racism and his xenophobia, is demonizing a group of people, and as president I will end that demonization,” he continued. “If a mother and a child walk thousands of miles on a dangerous path, in my view, they are not criminals. They are people fleeing violence.”
He also spoke about coming together with Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador so citizens do not have to flee their own countries.
