Podcast Summary: "How Immigration Became a Geopolitical Weapon Against America"

Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words
Guest Host: Jack Fowler | Guest: Peter Schweizer
Date: February 13, 2026

Overview

This episode explores the thesis of Peter Schweizer’s bestseller, The Invisible Coup: How American Elites and Foreign Powers Use Immigration as a Weapon. Schweizer details how immigration has shifted from being seen as a humanitarian issue to a deliberate tactic leveraged by both foreign and domestic actors for geopolitical and political gains. The conversation covers the roles of Mexican and Chinese officials, radical networks from Latin America, and complicity from segments of the American political establishment.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. What Sparked the Book?

[03:03–06:48]

• Trigger Points: Schweizer was struck by overt statements from high-level Mexican officials advocating mass migration to the US as a means to expand Mexican sovereignty, and the industrial-scale "birth tourism" industry from China supporting birthright citizenship.
• Motivation: Both facts prompted Schweizer to investigate further, revealing coordinated or opportunistic strategies by several foreign actors to undermine or influence US society and politics via unchecked migration.
• Confirmation: Schweizer briefed his findings to US officials (incl. the President, Marco Rubio), who were similarly astonished.

2. Progressive International and Cartel Ties

[06:48–10:38]

• Rise of Progressive International: Founded in 2018 by Bernie Sanders to unite leftist movements from North and Latin America.
• Criminal Infiltration: Approximately 30% of its leadership, according to Schweizer, have known drug cartel ties.
• Priority Platforms: Open borders and an end to military action against cartel operations—aligning directly with cartel interests.
• Impact: “This represents an intrusion of the drug cartels into American politics directly” (Schweizer, 10:00), as US politicians like AOC have introduced sympathetic resolutions.

3. Confluence of Adversarial Interests

[15:07–16:32]

• No Central Command: There’s no secret headquarters or unified command; “It’s a confluence of interests” among actors like Mexico, China, the Muslim Brotherhood, each using immigration to pursue their objectives.
• Domestic Political Enablers: “You have to look at political figures like Barack Obama and Joe Biden.... They benefit politically from mass migration.” (Schweizer, 15:52)
• Voter Mills Concept: Schweizer references an internal White House email: "'If people realized what we were doing, they would accuse us of running voter mills.'"

4. Mexico as a Principal Actor

[18:09–21:31]

• Fusion of Cartels and Political Elites: Especially within the ruling Morena Party.
• Activism in the US: Mexican politicians like Alejandro Robles orchestrate anti-assimilation efforts and foment activism against US administrations, notably meeting with movements like Antifa.
• Cultural Loyalty over Assimilation:
  • "Mexicans who come to the United States and assimilate... are traitors to Mexico and ought to be treated as such." — Alejandro Robles [00:00/18:54]
  • President Sheinbaum launched the “Migrant Hymn,” advocating loyalty to Mexico, not assimilation.

5. Pope Francis’ Role

[23:05–25:50]

• Theological Justification: Pope Francis advanced a liberation theology-influenced doctrine urging Western societies, especially the US and Europe, to accept mass migration, purportedly to “transform” the host society.
• Critique:
  • “He also said it was important because Western societies needed transformation... when you scratch below the surface, they admit... they feel that Western societies are too individualistic, too materialistic, too selfish.... The way you change them... is by changing the demographics.” (Schweizer, 24:16)

6. The Bad Mount Rushmore: Key Individuals and Organizations

[28:13–31:38]

• Top Four Individuals:

  1. Xi Jinping: For exploiting US birthright citizenship on a vast scale.
  2. Mexico’s Presidents (Sheinbaum/AMLO): For facilitating both cartel and political interference in US affairs.
  3. Barack Obama: For opening policy floodgates, notably instituting 10-year visas facilitating birth tourism.
  4. Joe Biden: For “opening the floodgates for political reasons… it was not humanitarian.” (Schweizer, 29:44)

• Most Damaging Organizations:

  1. Dept. of Homeland Security (under Democratic administrations): For gutting citizenship screening requirements.
  2. Catholic Charities / Lutheran Services: For promoting refugee resettlement as a means to “transform” the US, motivated by funding increases.
  3. Progressive International: For providing political cover and orchestrating transnational leftist activism, often overlapping with criminal agendas.
  4. (Implied) Progressive Nonprofits: As unnamed additional enablers.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On non-assimilation:
  “Mexicans who come to the United States and assimilate… are traitors to Mexico and ought to be treated as such. And… Sheinbaum, the president, who he knows well, agrees with him.” — Peter Schweizer paraphrasing Alejandro Robles [00:00/18:54]

• On Progressive International’s priorities:
  “They started working on two really important issues. The first one was open borders… Number two was a call for the ending of any military operations by the United States or allied governments against the drug cartels in Latin America. Those were the two priorities, which… are too high priorities for the drug cartels themselves.” — Schweizer, 09:00

• On American complicity:
  “You have to look at political figures like Barack Obama and Joe Biden… who benefit politically from mass migration…. It is to their political benefit, and they should…know better, but they’re choosing to do this… for their own benefit.” — Schweizer, 15:52

• On Pope Francis:
  “He also said it was important because Western societies needed transformation… the way you change them… is by changing the demographics.” — Schweizer, 24:16

• On the government’s abdication:
  “They gutted those [citizenship requirements], they ignored hundreds of thousands of criminal background checks because they just wanted to mint new voters. That’s clear.” — Schweizer, 30:05

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:03] Inciting incidents behind The Invisible Coup
• [06:48] Progressive International, rise and cartel ties
• [15:07] Are these actors coordinated? Who are the main US enablers?
• [18:09] Mexico’s operational strategies and network in US politics
• [23:05] Pope Francis’s theological/political role in migration
• [28:13] “Bad Mount Rushmore” of individuals and organizations shaping, weaponizing migration

Tone & Language

• The conversation is sober, occasionally darkly humorous, with candid criticisms of both foreign leaders and American political figures. Fowler and Schweizer maintain a collegial, sometimes wry tone while discussing what they characterize as deeply troubling facts and implications for US sovereignty.

Conclusion

Schweizer’s investigation, discussed in this episode, reveals that contemporary mass migration is not only driven by economic or humanitarian motives but has become a tool wielded by a complex web of foreign and domestic actors to achieve strategic, political, and financial ends. The episode serves as both exposition and warning, underscoring the intentionality behind certain migration policies and the broad complicity required to keep the gates open.