So what did Senator Sanders actually say about immigration? In an interview with Sanders, Vox.com editor Ezra Klein brought up the concept of an open borders immigration policy. Sanders rejected the notionopen borders and unlimited immigration, of course, being a position that no elected official supports. Sanders went on to point outa point which he later reiterated to journalist Jose Antonio Vargas and the Hispanic Chamber of Commercethat in some cases the importation of new foreign workers can negatively impact the wages of workers in the United States. Note that Sanders didnt say immigrants are taking jobs or lowering wages. He was specifically referring to non-immigrant, temporary foreign worker programs, also known as guestworker programs, which are full of flaws that employers take advantage of to exploit American and migrant workers alike, and to pit them against each other in the labor market.
The reality is that what Sanders supports on immigration is careful and nuanced, and its the correct path forward for American immigration policy. In a nutshell, Sanders is strongly in favor of legalization and citizenship for the current unauthorized immigrant population, which will raise wages and lift labor standards for all workers, and hes against expanding U.S. temporary foreign worker programs, which allow employers to exploit and underpay so-called guestworkers. Limiting guestworker programs will reduce wage suppression and improve labor standards for U.S. and migrant workers alike.
