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WEBVTT SOLEDAD: I’M SOLEDAD O’BRIEN. WELCOME TO “MATTER OF FACT.” WITH DEMOCRATS IN CONTROL OF THE HOUSE, YOU CAN EXPECT 2019 TO BE A YEAR OF OVERSIGHT. ALREADY THE RANKING MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE, ELIJAH CUMMINGS, FROM MARYLAND, HAS OUTLINED SEVERAL AREAS WHERE HE’S PLANNING WHAT HE CALLS "VIGOROUS" OVERSIGHT OF THE TRUMP ADMINSTRATION, INCLUDING THE PRESIDENT’S IMMIGRATION POLICIES. ACCORDING TO THE U.S. CENSUS, THERE ARE MORE THAN 40 MILLION IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN AMERICA RIGHT NOW. MORE THAN 13% OF THE U.S. POPULATION WAS BORN IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY. AMERICA’S HISTORY, OLD AND NEW, IS FILLED WITH STORIES OF IMMIGRANTS WHO HELPED SHAPED AMERICA’S PAST AND CONTINUE TO SHAPE ITS FUTURE. NOW, BUSINESSMAN ANDREW TISCH, WHOSE OWN IMMIGRANT FAMILY BECAME ONE OF THE WEALTHIEST AND MOST SUCCESSFUL IN AMERICA, HAS COMPILED SOME OF THESE STORIES IN A NEW BOOK CALLED “JOURNEYS: AN AMERICAN STORY.” I RECENTLY SAT DOWN WITH ANDREW AND CO-AUTHOR MARY SKAFIDAS ABOUT WHY THEY SAY IMMIGRATION SHOULD BE ONE AREA OF BIPARTISAN SUPPORT. SOLEDAD: SO TELL ME WHAT WAS THE IDEA BEHIND THE BOOK? ANDREW TISCH: THE IDEA BEHIND THE BOOK CAME FROM VISITING WITH A GROUP OF NEW IMMIGRANTS WHO WERE BEING SWORN IN AT THE NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY. AND I WAS GOING TO OFFER GREETINGS TO THEM. AND AS I WAS SITTING THERE WAITING TO GIVE MY THREE-MINUTE GREETINGS, I REALIZED EVERYBODY SITTING IN THE ROOM WAS AN IMMIGRANT AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER, WHETHER IT’S TWO HOURS HENCE OR SEVEN GENERATIONS AGO. BUT WE WERE ALL IMMIGRANTS. AND THOUGHT TO MYSELF IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO START TO COLLECT THE STORIES. AND THAT WAS THE BEGINNING. MARY AND I HAVE BEEN WRITING OP-EDS AND ARTICLES TOGETHER FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS. AND I WENT BACK TO THE OFFICE AND I SAID TO HER, “MARY, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT WRITING A BOOK TOGETHER?" SOLEDAD: MARY, WHO HAS IMMIGRANT ROOTS HERSELF. MARY SKAFIDAS: YES, I SAID YES. SOLEDAD: WHY WERE YOU INTERESTED IN JOINING THIS PROJECT? MARY SKAFIDAS: I ACTUALLY THOUGHT IT WAS A FANTASTIC IDEA. I MEAN, AT THE CORE, AMERICA IS BASED ON IMMIGRANTS AND PEOPLE TAKING THE CHANCE TO COME HERE AND START A NEW LIFE. USUALLY FOR A GREATER OPPORTUNITY. AND I THOUGHT THAT WAS THE PERFECT TIME TO REMIND EVERYONE OF THAT. AND CERTAINLY, IT’S SOMETHING THAT MY FAMILY IS VERY PROUD OF, THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO PICK FROM GREECE, COME TO NEW YORK, AND BE ABLE TO START THEIR LIVES OVER AGAIN. SOLEDAD: THE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT IMMIGRATION TODAY ARE NOT, I THINK, ONES OF HOPE AND INVESTING IN NEW AMERICANS AND JOY AND LOOKING FOR IT. IT’S NASTY. IT’S VERY HOSTILE. DO YOU THINK YOUR BOOK CAN HELP CHANGE HOW PEOPLE TALK ABOUT IMMIGRATION TODAY, WHICH TO ME THE RHETORIC IS VERY, VERY NEGATIVE? ANDREW TISCH: WELL, FOR MOST FAMILIES COMING TO AMERICA IS PROBABLY THE BIGGEST EVENT IN THEIR FAMILY’S LIFE. AND IT DOESN’T MATTER WHETHER YOU’RE A DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN, IT IS THE SAME WAY. ONE OF THE THINGS WE DID IN THE BOOK WAS WE TRIED TO GET A POLITICAL CROSS-SECTION AS WELL AS A CROSS-SECTION IN EVERY OTHER WAY. SOLEDAD: WHEN YOU TALK, ANDREW, TO THE NEW AMERICANS WHO ARE COMING IN. MY PARENTS ARE BOTH NATURALIZED CITIZENS. MY DAD’S AUSTRALIAN. MY MOTHER’S CUBAN. SO THEY’VE BEEN THROUGH THOSE NEW AMERICAN CEREMONIES BACK IN THE 1950'S. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE ABOUT THEM? IS THERE SOMETHING THAT’S JUST DIFFERENT AND REMARKABLE ABOUT THEM NOW? ANDREW TISCH: THEY’RE MOTIVATED. THEY ARE PROUD TO BE AMERICANS, AND THEY ARE THRILLED TO BE COMING TO THIS COUNTRY. THEY ARE SEEKING SOMETHING OR THEY’RE FLEEING SOMETHING, BUT THEY KNOW THAT THIS IS A PLACE FOR THEM FOR THEIR OPPORTUNITIES. AND YOU CAN SEE PRIDE IN THEIR FACES. I’VE BEEN TO A NUMBER OF NATURALIZATION CEREMONIES AND TO A PERSON THEY ARE PROUD TO BE AMERICANS. SOLEDAD: DO YOU THINK THERE WILL BE A TIME IN THIS COUNTRY WHERE WE CELEBRATE OUR IMMIGRANT ROOTS? I MEAN, I REALLY FEEL AS A FIRST GENERATION AMERICAN THAT WE’VE MOVED OFF OF THAT, AND DO WE COME BACK TO IT SOMEDAY? DO YOU THINK SOON WE’LL BE ONCE AGAIN, WHETHER YOU’RE REPUBLICAN , DEMOCRAT, AN INDEPENDENT, WHETHER A SEVENTH-GENERATION AMERICAN, A FIRST-GENERATION AMERICAN, LIKE WE’LL BE TALKING ABOUT IMMIGRANTS WITH PRIDE AND HONOR? MARY SKAFIDAS: ABSOLUTELY. I THINK, I THINK WE’VE BEEN IN THIS POSITION BEFORE AS COUNTRY, AND WE’VE CELEBRATED IMMIGRANTS. WE’VE CLOSED THE DOOR TO IMMIGRATION, AND IT WILL COME BACK AGAIN. SOLEDAD: MARY SKAFIDAS, ANDREW TISCH, NICE TO SEE YOU G