2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Hillary Clinton in 2003: "I am, you know, adamantly against illegal immigrants." [View all]TexasTowelie
(125,068 posts)Sanders position on immigration has been called complicated and he has been criticized by immigration activists for supporting the idea that immigrants coming to the U.S. are taking jobs and hurting the economy, a theory that has been proven incorrect. Both of his leading Democratic challengers, Hillary Clinton and Martin OMalley, have recognized that new immigrants coming to the country actually boost the economy. But Sanders continues to align himself more closely with Democratic positions of the past.
I frankly do not believe that we should be bringing in significant numbers of unskilled to workers to compete with {unemployed} kids, Sanders said. I want to see these kids get jobs.
Studies have shown that immigrants actually create jobs for American workers. Researchers recently found that each new immigrant has produced about 1.2 new jobs in the U.S., most of which have gone to native-born workers. And according to the Atlantic, an influx in immigration can cause non-tradable professions jobs like hospitality and construction that cannot be outsourced to see a wage increase because the demand for goods and services grows with the expanding population.
But Sanders fails to see it that way, pointing on Thursday to the 36 percent unemployment rate for Hispanic young people. You bring a lot of unskilled workers into this country, what do you think happens to that 36 percent?
Sanders poor track record on immigration goes back further than just his presidential campaign. In 2007, he voted against a bipartisan immigration reform bill sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA). At the progressive Netroots Nation conference earlier this month, Sanders said the reform bill would have allowed for low wage workers to enter the country who would be competing against kids in this country who desperately need jobs.
But Sanders did vote for the 2013 immigration reform bill, which also included guest worker programs and contained most of the same measures as the 2007 bill that he opposed.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/07/30/3686282/bernie-sanders-immigration/
It does appear that Bernie's positions have evolved over time also.