WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama described immigration on Tuesday as the nation’s oldest tradition and part of what makes the country exceptional, as he sought to draw a contrast with those who want to seal the borders against people seeking to escape hardships and persecution.
“We can never say it often or loudly enough: Immigrants and refugees revitalize and renew America,” Obama said.
Obama is seeking this week to reassure the public about his strategy for stopping the Islamic State group while also emphasizing that the United States is a welcoming country that promotes religious tolerance.
Obama implicitly drew a contrast with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has campaigned on a plan to wall off the Mexican border and recently called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States. Some members of Congress have voiced worries that allowing more Syrian refugees into the country will make the nation more susceptible to a terrorist attack.
Obama spoke at the National Archives Museum, where immigrants from Iraq, Ethiopia, Uganda and 22 other nations were sworn in as U.S. citizens. He spoke from a lectern placed in front of the display of the Constitution. He said the nation’s first immigrants were the pilgrims and that eight signers of the Declaration of Independence were immigrants.