UNITED STATES – JANUARY 16: Senate Budget Committee ranking member Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. holds a news conference on the budget on Friday, Jan. 16, 2015. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

You’d think that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), being the hard leftist that he is, would share some of the more radical stances you see common amongst the left, including issues like border security. While many leftists believe open borders is the way to go, Sanders has made it very clear that this issue presents far too great a conundrum, especially economically.

While holding a town hall in Oskaloosa, Iowa, Sanders was asked how he was going to deal with the social services connected with open borders policies. Sanders asked the man who is saying they want open borders. The man told Sanders that Sanders himself was an open borders activist, at which point Sanders corrected him.

“I’m afraid you may be getting your information wrong,” Sanders said. “I think what we need is comprehensive immigration reform.”

Interestingly, Sanders made it clear that open borders would carry a lot of economic consequences with it.

“Oh my god, there’s a lot of poverty in this world, and you’re going to have 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,” Sanders continued.

Sen. Bernie Sanders campaigns in Oskaloosa, IA: "If you open the borders, there's a lot of poverty in this world, and you're going to have 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." pic.twitter.com/INF9GopzIe

— The Hill (@thehill) April 7, 2019

Sanders has treated the economy as if money grew on trees, and has promised everything from free medical care to free college to those who voted for him. That he suddenly sounds economically conservative when it comes to immigration is a position that, frankly, few would see coming. Especially to the point where the questioner just assumed that Sanders was pro-open borders.

Sanders has in the past gone from having a hard stance to softening his stance in the wake of backlash. Recently, Sanders told a radio show host that he was flatly against reparations being paid to members of the black community, which resulted in a backlash from the social justice community. However, he recently told the National Action Network that he would sign a bill to create a commission for the task of reparations.

If the backlash from the radical left is hard enough, Sanders may change his tune, albeit slightly.