Season 1, Episode 6: JFK and A Nation of Immigrants

December 13, 2018

About This Episode

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View the transcript for this episode.

The debate surrounding immigration is not a new one in the United States. It wasn’t even new in John F. Kennedy’s time. As a senator, he argued for a fair, but generous policy towards people wishing to come to the US. As the descendent of immigrants fleeing the devastating potato famine in Ireland, President Kennedy was a living example of what immigrants and their children could achieve in the United States if given the opportunity.

On this episode, we’ll learn more about President Kennedy’s views on immigration, and hear from some notable US immigrants themselves, including Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the Gold Star family who lost a son in the Iraq War, immigration scholar Sayu Bhojwani, former Saturday Night Live cast member Horatio Sanz, and Black Panther and The Good Place actor Bambadjan Bamba.

Special thanks to this episode's guests, Bambadjan Bamba, Sayu Bhojwani, Khizr and Ghazala Khan, and Horatio Sanz.

What We Talked About


These fact sheets outline President Kennedy's positions on immigration.

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A draft copy of then-Senator John F. Kennedy's speech given to the American Jewish National Congress. The central ideas of this speech would become part of President Kennedy's essay and then book, "A Nation of Immigrants."

View more documents from the archives.



Actor Bambadjan Bamba tours the Ivory Coast State Dinner exhibit in the JFK Library.

Photo © JFK Library Foundation



Khizr Khan delivers a speech in honor of veterans at the JFK Library Foundation's A Nation Immigrants 60th Anniversary Dinner. Kahn's son Humayun died while serving in the Iraq War.

Photo © JFK Library Foundation



Immigrant advocate Sayu Bhojwani, The Black Panther and The Good Place actor Bambadjan Bamba, and former Saturday Night Live cast member Horatio Sanz discussed immigration on a panel at the JFK Library Foundation's Nation of Immigrants 60th Anniversary Dinner.

Photo © JFK Library Foundation


Learn More

If you have a story idea or want to let us know how we're doing, email us at JFK35Pod@jfklfoundation.org.