Brandon Nesbitt

Arnold Schwarzenegger arrived in America in 1968 at 21 with almost nothing. A few years later, he says, he put his entire $26,000 in savings into a $235,000 apartment building, and by 30 he was a millionaire, before Hollywood and before he became governor. In the video below, he is asked how he feels, as an immigrant, watching videos of ICE raids. He doesn’t start with ICE. He starts with gratitude. He says that in no other country in the world could he have built a bodybuilding career, an acting career, a governorship and his family from nothing. On July 4, 2025, he gave the keynote at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, where more than 100 people from 95 countries were sworn in as new American citizens. Then he draws a hard line. Immigration has to be done legally, he says, and foreigners who commit crimes in America are not smart. His rule is simple. When you come to America, you’re a guest, and you behave like one. When he stays at someone’s house, he makes his bed and keeps things clean. He also says immigrants owe something back. If America gives you education, jobs and a chance to build a family, you have a responsibility to repay it by volunteering for no money at all, in after school programs, the Special Olympics or your own community. Does someone who got everything from America owe it something back, or is paying taxes and following the law already enough?