While it is "not wrong" to want to protect the country's borders or expect that immigrants assimilate, Mr. Obama said, it "cannot be an excuse for immigration policies based on race or ethnicity or religion."
"We can enforce the law while respecting the essential humanity of those who are striving for a better life," he said. "For a mother with a child in her arms, we can recognize that could be somebody in our family, that could be my child."
Throughout the speech, Mr. Obama returned to the ideals promoted by Mandela, the anti-apartheid South African leader, saying that his release from prison in 1990 inspired a wave of racial and gender equality and economic progress nearly everywhere. Countries were lifted out of poverty. Entrepreneurs surfaced from all parts of the world.
But the financial collapse of 2008, Mr. Obama said, ushered in severe economic hardship, lost wages and unemployment that led many people to question how drastically the world had changed with globalization and technology. They became wary of immigration and denounced powerful elites in both politics and places like financial institutions, he said.
The ideals promoted by Mandela are now at risk, he added.
"On Madiba's 100th birthday, we now stand at a crossroads," Mr. Obama said, using Mr. Mandela's clan name, a term of affection in South Africa for him. "A moment in time in which two very different visions of humanity's future compete for the hearts and minds of citizens around the world. Two different stories, two different narratives, about who we are and who we should be."
Countries like Russia and China are trying to take advantage of the moment of uncertainty, he said. Asserting its growing economic prowess, China challenges criticisms of its human rights record. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia is trying to rebuild its regional and international influence.
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