Senator Bernie Sanders, a figure long associated with progressive causes and the Democratic Party’s left wing, stunned political observers this week by publicly declaring that former President Donald Trump did a better job securing the U.S. border than President Joe Biden. The comments, made during a candid conversation on The Tim Dillon Show on October 22, 2025, have reverberated across the political spectrum, igniting debate about immigration, party loyalty, and the future of border policy in the United States.
Sanders, who has twice run for president on a platform emphasizing economic populism, did not mince words. “If you don’t have any borders, you don’t have a nation, right? In a sense. So, has historically the United States done well under Democrats and Republicans protecting the border? The answer is no. Trump did a better job,” Sanders said, according to The Post Millennial. He added, “I don’t like Trump, you know, but we should have a secure border. And it ain’t that hard to do. Biden didn’t do it. Those before him did not do it.”
The remarks, which aired on Wednesday and quickly circulated on social media and news platforms, represent one of the sharpest breaks yet between Sanders and the mainstream of his party on immigration enforcement. Sanders, who caucuses with Democrats but identifies as an independent, has a history of challenging both parties on issues ranging from Wall Street regulation to foreign policy. But his latest comments on border security were particularly notable for their directness and for the rare compliment to Trump, a figure Sanders has frequently criticized on other fronts.
Pressed by host Tim Dillon about why Biden was not more proactive on immigration, Sanders conceded, “He did, he did some things. I think by the end of his term — if my memory is correct — the number of illegal folks coming in had gone down. But I’m not gonna sit here and tell you that overall it was a good job, it was not.” Sanders also emphasized that most members of Congress, regardless of party, support the idea of a secure border: “We should have a secure border, period. I think most people in the Congress agree with that.”
This isn’t the first time Sanders has pushed back against progressive calls for open borders. Back in 2015, when questioned by Vox’s Ezra Klein, Sanders dismissed the idea outright, calling it “a Koch brothers proposal” and arguing that open borders would flood the U.S. with cheap labor, depressing wages for American workers. “I think from a moral responsibility, we’ve got to work with the rest of the industrialized world to address the problems of international poverty,” he said at the time, “but you don’t do that by making people in this country even poorer.”
Yet, in the years since, the Democratic Party’s base has shifted, with younger progressives increasingly advocating for more open immigration policies and less emphasis on enforcement. Sanders’ latest remarks suggest a willingness to buck that trend, at least when it comes to border security.
The context for Sanders’ comments is a dramatic shift in U.S. border policy and public opinion. Under President Biden, Customs and Border Protection logged a record 2.47 million migrant encounters in fiscal year 2023, up sharply from about 458,000 in Trump’s final year, according to Fox News. The surge in border crossings became a top issue for voters heading into the 2024 election, with critics blaming Biden’s “soft” policies for allowing millions to enter the country without proper vetting. High-profile crimes committed by illegal immigrant gang members further fueled public anxiety and political pressure.
After returning to the White House in 2025, Trump’s administration moved quickly to reinstate a series of hardline measures. According to Newsweek, these included executive orders and regulatory changes to enforce immigration laws more strictly, pausing or restricting refugee resettlement, reinstating rapid-expulsion policies like Title 42, expediting deportations, and ramping up border barrier construction. The Pentagon also deployed troops to the southern border to support Border Patrol agents. These actions, combined with policy and infrastructure changes, led to a dramatic drop in unlawful crossings—reaching their lowest level in over 50 years, as reported by the Department of Homeland Security in early October 2025.
Public sentiment has shifted alongside these policy changes. A 2025 Pew Research Center study cited by Newsweek found that 56 percent of Americans now support substantially expanding the U.S.–Mexico border wall, up from 46 percent in 2019. Support remains highest among Republicans at 88 percent, but backing among Democrats has nearly doubled to 27 percent over the same period.
Sanders’ remarks drew immediate and passionate reactions from across the political spectrum. Journalist Mehdi Hasan, a longtime Sanders supporter, wrote on X, “This may be the single worst thing Bernie Sanders has ever said, and I say this as a long-time Bernie admirer. Praising Trump for his border policies? Endorsing lazy rightwing talking points about Biden and border security, and nations not existing without borders? Sheesh.” On the other hand, conservative activist Robby Starbuck expressed astonishment, posting, “Someone pinch me because I’m pretty sure I just heard Bernie Sanders say that 'if you don’t have a border then you don’t have a country' and that President Trump did a better job than other Presidents at securing the border. Wow.” Florida Republican candidate Michael Carbonara added, “Even Bernie Sanders admits it: Trump secured the border better than Biden. When the far left acknowledges the obvious, maybe it’s time Democrats stop pretending open borders work.”
The episode also highlighted ongoing divisions within the Democratic Party over immigration. While prominent progressives like Rep. Nancy Pelosi have continued to champion the contributions of immigrants—"The people of San Francisco will continue to stand with the patriotic immigrants who are the constant reinvigoration of America," Pelosi recently stated—others, like Sanders, are warning that lax border enforcement risks undermining national security and public confidence.
Sanders’ comments come at a time when the Democratic Party is grappling with how to reconcile calls for compassion toward migrants with demands for effective law enforcement. During his 2020 presidential campaign, Sanders was critical of Trump’s “demonizing immigrants” and downplayed the notion of a border crisis. He even opposed border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, calling them “xenophobic.” Now, his tone has shifted dramatically, echoing conservative arguments that “it ain’t that hard” to secure the border and urging Democrats to return to an enforcement-focused approach.
As the Trump administration continues its crackdown—carrying out large-scale arrests and deportations, and maintaining strict measures at the border—the debate over immigration shows no signs of fading. Sanders’ surprise endorsement of Trump’s border record may signal a broader realignment on the issue, or it may simply highlight the persistent tensions within both parties over how best to balance security, economic interests, and humanitarian values.
For now, Sanders’ words have injected new urgency—and no small amount of controversy—into the national conversation about what it means to have, and to protect, America’s borders.
