- Let me ask you this,
an issue in and
around immigration.
This is a tough one because
I've found that in America
people like to make it seem like
it's either one or the other.
All the immigrants come in, no
borders, or shut it all down,
no immigrants in the country.
Clearly, you need a
little bit of both.
- Absolutely
- Right. There is--
- Let me just interrupt
you to tell you
that you're talking to
the son of an immigrant.
- Right.
- A man who came to this country
from Poland at the age of 17
without a nickel in his pocket.
So, I am sensitive to
the issue of immigration.
- I can imagine and
you have said this
on the campaign trail.
Here's the thing some
economists argue.
They say there has
been a correlation
between immigrants
coming into America
and the lowering of wages.
Because when people
come in and take jobs
that are for lower
skilled individuals,
inevitably the numbers,
the numbers are gonna drop
because people can't pay
somebody else less to do it.
And they've shown now,
now that immigration
has gone down,
wages are starting to go up.
Now you actually, I think
it was in 2015 or whenever,
you, you spoke to
this in Vermont
and you said yes, we
need to look at that.
That is an issue.
We can't just have people coming
in and replacing the jobs.
So where do you stand on this?
And where do you
find the balance?
- I mean, that is the question.
Nobody, well at least
not many people,
believed in open borders.
I mean, if you simply
open the borders,
you have people from
Vietnam, and, and China,
an, and Mexico, and
Latin America coming in.
- Right.
- And no one thinks
that that is a,
a, a plausible approach.
On the other hand, uh, you
know, I think the strength
of this nation, uh, is, in fact,
the diversity and the new
ideas that immigrants,
uh, from all walks of life
have given this country.
So you need a rational,
non-racist immigration policy
which welcomes people in
from all over the world
to improve, uh, our economy.
But clearly you cannot
have open borders.
- Right. We've got
someone over there.
Yes ma'am. Yes.
- [Audience Member] (mumbles)
Sanders I have a question.
Um, do you plan to
go, when campaigning,
to go into urban
areas so people like,
to talk to people like
me in black churches,
or in black schools, so you
get your message across?
That's one. And two, should
you be fortunate enough
to win the presidency,
do you plan to have a
very diverse cabinet?
You look at Donald
Trump's cabinet,
you see a slew of
a few white women,
all white men, and Ben Carson.
(laughing)
- Thank you for
that great question,
and the answer is yes, yes.
Look, this is a
promise, absolutely, uh,
my cabinet will look
like America, okay?
(applause)
- And, uh, and as this
campaign progresses,
and we've already done it,
you will see me, uh,
we've already been to
historically black
colleges and universities
in South Carolina. Uh, we are
going to be into urban areas
all over this country. Uh,
absolutely, positively.
- Lemme, lemme ask you a
question real quick, Bernie.
Just, just off of that, as
a, as a, as a follow up.
You know, you, you started
the race in one place
and we saw you
have your journeys,
you know, grappling
with conversations
in and around race.
What do you think
is the biggest thing
you as Bernie Sanders learned?
- I'll tell you that's a
very profound question,
an, and, uh, here's
what I did learn.
The issues that I fight
for, say, Medicare for all,
- Right.
- Will probably help
African-Americans, Latinos,
more than most white people.
Issues like making public
colleges and universities
help minorities more
than most white people.
But you know what I missed
in that whole discussion?
That it's not just
healthcare for all.
I talked to a young black
woman the other day,
and she said, "You know,
my mother hesitates
to go to the doctor because
she doesn't think that
that white doctor is gonna
treat her with the respect
that she deserves, okay?"
All you talk about health
disparities, all right?
You're talking about, uh,
redlining in districts today.
- Right.
- Where, if I am a
black businessman,
I talk to a guy in Milwaukee,
a successful small
business owner, he said,
"Bernie, I can't get a loan.
I'm black, I cannot get a loan."
You talk about education,
young African-Americans
are leaving school more
deeply in debt than whites,
all right?
So I think I will do a
better job this time,
a, an, in, in understanding
and talking about, uh,
those type of issues.
- Issues that specifically
affect black people?
- Yeah. Right.
- We got time for one
more from audience,
so I'll take it from
this side. Yes, sir.
- [Audience Member]
Actually, it kinda feeds off
what you were just
saying with uh,
the school debt and stuff.
Uh, for example, if
somebody has a credit card,
and all the sudden
they miss a payment,
you're talking like,
25, 30 percent interest,
and you know, that
almost sounds like
legal loan sharking.
An, and how do we,
how do we get, and you could
now go the next three years,
pay everything on time,
but that rate never
comes back down.
- You know what, that
is a great question.
And years ago, we're
gonna reintroduce this.
Um, what you're talking
about is loan sharking.
That's what you're
talking about.
And the way it works is
that many of these large,
I didn't know this, but many
large department stores,
for example, make more money
off of their credit card,
interest on their credit cards
than they do selling their
merchandise, all right?
So, we are, right now,
if you are a member
of a credit union,
if my memory is correct,
they cannot charge you more
than 15 percent interest rates.
Which seems to me already
to be pretty high.
And that's what I want
for this entire country.
It is outrageous when
interest rates are so low,
that there are people
paying 25, 30 percent,
uh, in, uh, because
they missed a payment,
uh, on interest in
their credit cards.
And that's an issue we
will definitely deal with.
(applause)
- Two things. I gotta let
you go. I gotta let you go.
One, one thing real quick, uh,
I just wanted to ask you
one question, because you,
you, you're always on the race
and you're doing your thing,
you bumped your head
and then you, like,
put a bandage and you
just carried on the race.
Are you having fun?
- Yeah, I am, of course.
How could I not be?
(applause)
- Bernie Sanders, everybody!
(applause)
(upbeat music)
