This is the first of several videos I made with Show of Force as part of their project called Humanity on the Move, addressing forced migration and the global refugee crisis. A special thanks to the team there, especially Jessica Chermayeff and Ana Veselic, for making it with me. If you’re sneaking ahead and reading this without having watched the video, I don’t want to give anything away — but let’s just say that I hope the video will make people realize that we are all descendants of immigrants. If you’re a Native American, maybe your ancestors came 15,000 years ago; if you’re English, perhaps 400 years ago; if you’re like me, you’re a more recent vintage (three of my four grandparents were born abroad, and all four of my wife’s grandparents were born abroad).
Yes, immigration brings challenges, including security risks that we’ve seen with terrorism. Yes, there are economic challenges, with immigrants sometimes displacing low-skilled workers in particular. But above all, immigrants bring hard work, diversity and global connections. On balance, they strengthen this country. So we can’t have open borders, but neither should we vilify immigrants and scapegoat them. Because they are us. Right, Mr. Trump?
