How China is Weaponizing America's Immigration System, with Peter Schweizer, PLUS Why Ossoff Has Democrats Buzzing

Next Up with Mark Halperin

MK Media

News, Daily News, Politics

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2026

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Next Up, Mark Halperin opens with his reported monologue on how a recent speech by Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff has Democrats energized and Republicans quietly concerned. Mark breaks down how Ossoff skillfully fused outrage at Donald Trump with economic populism, optimism, and disciplined messaging in a way many Democrats now see as a potential template for the 2026 midterms and beyond. Mark is then joined by New York Times bestselling author Peter Schweizer for a wide-ranging conversation on what Schweizer calls the weaponization of immigration. Schweizer details how China exploits U.S. birthright citizenship through birth tourism and surrogacy, raises alarms about American flight schools training Chinese pilots who may later serve in the PLA, and challenges the idea that the Mexican government is a passive player in the migration crisis. Bank On Yourself: Discover the retirement plan banks don't want you to know about—get your free report at https://BankOnYourself.com/Mark ShipStation: Streamline your shipping and save up to 15 hours a week with ShipStation—try it free for 60 days at https://ShipStation.com using code NEXTUP. Cardiff: Get fast business funding without bank delays—apply in minutes with Cardiff and access up to $500,000 in same‑day funding at https://Cardiff.co/MARK

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome, everybody. We're back. I'm Mark Halperin. Thank you all nexters for convening today.
0:07.3	Gather around, gather around. We've got a great program for you today. I'm Mark Halpern,
0:11.6	editor-in-chief of the live interactive video platform two-way and your guide through all the noise to get to the place and the clearing where we can see what's next up.
0:20.1	Grateful to have you here.
0:21.5	By the time we're done, you are going to be well ahead of everybody foolish enough to skip the program.
0:26.8	Here's the plan for today.
0:28.5	First, I'm going to give you my reported monologue on Democrats thinking they found a messenger or at least a message.
0:34.5	John Ossoff, the Democratic senator from Georgia gave a big speech over the weekend that had a lot of Democrats and Republicans buzzing.
0:42.3	My reported monologue on what they're saying about why what Ossoff said may well be a template for Democrats in 2026 and 28.
0:51.7	Then the rest of the episode we're spending with a guy who's been very successful
0:55.3	writing about the power players in Washington in politics in both parties.
1:00.0	Peter Schweitzer's here.
1:01.7	He's the brains behind a new number one New York Times bestseller called The Invisible Coup.
1:06.4	We're going to dissect how foreign adversaries of the United States in China and the government of Mexico in his
1:12.7	reporting do things with immigration into this country that are not necessarily, to say the least,
1:19.5	for the good of the United States. What's happening with China in particular, as you'll hear from
1:24.2	Peter, is quite something as they basically take advantage of our immigration
1:28.5	policies to create competitive asymmetrical advantages over the United States. We will dig deep with
1:34.5	Peter on this reporting. It will surprise you and alarm you, I suspect. But before Peter's here,
1:40.2	we're going to talk about what Senator Ossoff said over the weekend and why Democrats are so
1:45.0	fired up. My reported monologue is next time. Are you being lied to? They tell you to max out your
1:52.5	401k and your IRA and then make you beg for permission to use your own money. It's time to get the
	...

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