Buzzfeed News
By David Mack
December 15, 2015
Amid
a heated national debate on immigration, President Obama on Tuesday
made an impassioned defense of migrants and refugees at a naturalization
ceremony in Washington,
D.C. — telling some of the country’s newest citizens they were
emblematic of America’s longstanding cultural diversity.
Speaking
before the original copies of the founding documents at the National
Archives, the president told the 31 new Americans, “as of today your
story is forever woven
into the larger story of this nation.”
Turning
to history to defend immigrants, the president noted that eight of the
people who signed the U.S. constitution that lay in bullet-proof glass
behind him were immigrants
themselves.
“We
are born of immigrants. That is who we are,” he said. “Immigration is
our origin story. For more than two centuries, it’s remained at the core
of our national character.
It’s our oldest tradition. It makes us who we are.”
With
Republican contenders for the presidency calling for walls to be
constructed along the U.S. border with Mexico and a total ban on Muslims
entering the country, and
as dozens of governors across the country demand an end to the
resettlement of Syrian refugees, Obama instead in his speech harked back
to some of the most shameful moments in history to make his defense of
immigration.
He
referenced Africans brought over on slave ships; Irish people once
barred from New York City employment; Catholics coming under suspicion
for having a possible foreign
allegiance to the pope; Chinese people being banned from entering the
country; and German, Italian, and Japanese immigrants and dual citizens
being detained and interned in camps during World War Two. “We succumbed
to fear,” he said of these episodes. “We
betrayed not only our fellow Americans but our deepest values. We
betrayed these documents. It’s happened before.”
“Those
who betrayed these values were themselves the children of immigrants.
How quickly we forget,” he said. “We suggest that somehow there is us
and there is them, not
remembering that we used to be them.”
To applause that echoed throughout the rotunda, Obama said Americans must resolve never to repeat such mistakes.
At
times, the president fell silent for long stretches, his eyes becoming
glassy, as he exulted the contributions of American immigrants to
business, culture, and society.
“The
tension throughout our history between welcoming or rejecting the
stranger, it’s about more than just immigration. It’s about the meaning
of America. What kind of
country do want to be?”
“In
the Mexican immigrant today,” he said, “we see the Catholic immigrant
of a century ago. In the Syrian seeking refuge today, we should see the
Jewish refugee of World
War Two.”
Speaking
to those present, who hailed from 25 different countries, Obama said he
hoped they would participate in all elements of American life.
“You
will not and should not forget your history and your past. That adds to
the richness of American life,” he said, “but you are now American.
You’ve got obligations
as citizens — and I’m absolutely confident you will meet them. You’ll
set a good example for all of us because you know how precious this
thing is.”
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