Immigration continues to be a controversial topic in the US. In this 2016 discussion, host Christopher Lydon talks with historian Dr. Aziz Rana about how these new policies reflect older tensions in American attitudes toward immigration.
PREVIEW
Transcript
Transcript
Christopher Lydon: A nation of immigrants, a work in progress, and acutely these days, an idea, an identity in dispute.
John Kennedy: “…we are the descendants of 40 million people who left other countries, other familiar scenes, to come here to the United States to build a new life…”
Donald Trump: “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. They’re sending us not the right people, it’s coming from more than Mexico…”
Dr. Aziz Rana: “We think of ourselves as an immigrant nation, as open to everybody from all over the world, and yet at the same time we see an intense brand of xenophobia in our presence.”