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Parsing Immigration Policy

President Václav Klaus: The Importance of Limiting Migration and Maintaining Nation-States

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Former Czech President Václav Klaus joins the Center for Immigration Studies podcast to discuss migration, national identity, and the importance of the nation-state. An economist and longtime advocate for national sovereignty, President Klaus challenges prevailing European views on immigration, multiculturalism, and the European Union.

Key highlights:

  • Reconciling free market economics with the necessity of limited immigration and secure borders.
  • Differentiating between individual migration and mass migration.
  • Arguing that low birthrates do not justify increased migration.
  • Explaining mass migration as being demand-driven, caused by politics and social policies.
  • Critiquing labor importation as a policy failure that undermines citizens’ motivation to work.
  • Emphasizing the importance of national borders and criticizing the Schengen Agreement.
  • Distinguishing between migrants and legitimate refugees as opposed to distinguishing between legal and illegal migrants.

Host

Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.

Guest

Former Czech President Václav Klaus

Related

"Europe All Inclusive: Understanding the Current Migration Crisis"

Václav Klaus’ personal website

Intro Montage

Voices in the opening montage:

  • Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.
  • Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.
  • President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.
  • Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.
  • Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.
  • Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.
  • Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.
  • House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.
  • Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.
  • Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.
  • Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

Hosted by Mark Krikorian