Reclaiming Immigration for American Renewal and Economic Vitality

Key Quotes

"You know I mean I still am very sentimental about the Emma Lazarus poem on the Statue of Liberty and historically we've gone through these periods of racial nationalism like we're in right now people who wanted to define America as you know a sort of ethnic community and periods of civic nationalism where America is about ideas and values."

Michelle Goldberg argues that American history has oscillated between periods of racial nationalism, which defines the nation by ethnicity, and civic nationalism, which defines it by shared ideas and values. She suggests that the nation's identity as a land of immigrants is rooted in this tradition of civic nationalism, which is open to anyone willing to embrace its principles.

"The thing that Donald Trump and the people around Donald Trump, Steve Bannon in particular, have done so effectively is to basically take a sledgehammer to the idea of civic nationalism and I think that Democrats spent so much time taking it for granted that there was no need really to make an affirmative case for immigration on a moral and ethical basis but also just as a source of renewing American vitality."

Goldberg explains that Donald Trump and his allies have actively undermined the concept of civic nationalism, which she believes Democrats have neglected. She contends that this neglect has left the party unprepared to articulate the moral, ethical, and vitality-boosting benefits of immigration, which she sees as crucial for America's future.

"I think nobody has made the case that America again is just so much better at absorbing people than you know traditionally many European countries and I mean you know America has its problems it has obviously its you know kind of underserved neighborhoods I'm not trying to sugarcoat it but there's something that like America should be proud of American Americans should be proud of as opposed to sort of cowering and assuming that the worst effects of mass migration in other countries are going to be our destiny."

Michelle Goldberg asserts that America possesses a unique strength in its capacity to absorb and integrate immigrants, surpassing many European nations. She believes Americans should take pride in this historical ability, rather than succumbing to fear and assuming that negative outcomes seen elsewhere will inevitably occur in the U.S.

"The essential problem at the border and tell me if you disagree with this during the Biden years was the abuse of our asylum system, right? I think you would agree with that."

David Leonhardt questions Michelle Goldberg about the core issue at the border during the Biden administration, suggesting it was the misuse of the asylum system. He seeks her agreement on this point as a foundational problem that needs to be addressed.

"I think that they should have been, you know, surging resources to the border. I think that they wanted to do that legislatively. That was a big failure. So short of ending asylum, what do you think they should have been doing to lessen this flow of immigration?"

Goldberg critiques the Biden administration's approach to border management, stating they should have allocated more resources to the border and that their legislative efforts failed. She believes that even without ending asylum, more proactive measures could have been taken to manage the flow of immigration.

"You know, you used this word at the beginning of our conversation, scarcity, that sticks with me and and I actually think is a really nice way to try to wrap up this series, which is even if I'm narrowly optimistic about the possibility of better immigration law within the next several years, in a way our problems with immigration are related to so many of our other problems, which is many Americans have felt a sense of scarcity and when people feel scarcity, politics get really nasty and they're not generous."

David Leonhardt reflects on Goldberg's earlier point about scarcity, connecting it to broader issues beyond immigration. He suggests that a pervasive sense of scarcity among Americans contributes to a more hostile and less generous political climate, impacting various policy areas.