Analysis

You can read an excerpt from the Analysis section here:

Occasionally, Patrick uses the same idea to appeal to both positive and negative emotions in the listeners. We see this in the passage where he mentions how America welcomed children from different nations escaping from the violence and natural disasters occurring in their native countries. Here, the listeners are meant to feel sympathy for the children, happiness that the children were saved, as well as pride that America saved these children. The speaker encourages this feeling of pride by including the listeners in the narrative: “We rescued Irish children (….) Russian and Ukrainian children (…) Cambodian children (…) Haitian children (…) Sudanese children (…) our own New Orleans children.” This appeals to the listeners’ patriotism as well as to their sense of responsibility as American citizens. 

However, after sharing the success stories, Patrick also reveals the failures: “Once in 1939, we turned our backs on Jewish children fleeing the Nazis. And it remains a blight on our national reputation, as I fear the separation of children in the last administration will be remembered.” Since the listeners have been made to feel responsible for the success stories, they now also feel responsible for the failures. This makes them feel both upset and guilty. The sense of guilt is heightened by Patrick’s comparison of the Trump administration’s immigration policies and leaving Jewish children to die in Nazi Germany.