One of the most disheartening aspects of politics today is the way that many officeholders (or aspirants for office) in both parties have demonized immigration—and by extension globalization.

There’s a strong bipartisan trend toward “securing the borders first.” The problem is that the conversation is not getting too far beyond that notion.

Yes, the United States is a nation based on the rule of law. We have to uphold our statutes, especially as they apply to citizenship. But rhetoric on Capitol Hill and the campaign trail makes it sound as if immigrants enervate our country rather than strengthen it.

During the past two weeks, the Olympics have shown why we should take deep pride in our country’s history of welcoming people from all over the world and making them part of the American fabric.

Like many of you, I have been captivated by the performances of Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin in women’s gymnastics. But the indelible Olympic moment for me was not one of Johnson’s powerful moves on the balance beam or her winsome good sportsmanship as she interacted with her opponents.

What stood out was the interview she conducted with Bob Costas on NBC after she captured the gold medal in the balance beam competition. She mentioned that she had to fight off an upset stomach and headache before the beam event, which was her last chance to grab the gold. She was exhausted from pushing herself to the limit up to that point.

Johnson credited her coach, Liang Chow, for helping her through the ordeal and inspiring her to give a championship effort. Liang was sitting next to Johnson on the couch in the TV studio. But at the moment, he was literally right at home. He grew up in Beijing.

Liang and Johnson met in West Des Moines, Iowa, when Johnson walked into his gymnastics club as a 6-year-old. Liang nurtured her talent and has helped Johnson become one of the best gymnasts in the world.

But one of the few places in the world where such an encounter could occur is in the United States. We are the country that uniquely welcomes people to come here and excel in their chosen field.

The U.S. gymnastics workforce has benefited greatly from our country’s open arms. Seated at the end of the couch during Johnson’s interview was Bela Karolyi, the former U.S. coach who guided Mary Lou Retton to her outstanding Olympic achievements in 1984.

Before coming to America and taking Retton to the top of the Olympic world, Karolyi coached the first “rock star” of women’s gymnastics—Nadia Comaneci, a gold medalist in 1976. Karolyi and Comaneci are both Romanian.

Karolyi defected to the United States in 1981. Now his wife, Martha, is the coordinator of USA Gymnastics. There was something deeply moving about Karolyi, in his thick Eastern European accent, extolling the virtues of U.S. gymnastics during the NBC interview.

It was a striking tableau—the humble Midwestern girl with the radiant smile, her low-key Chinese coach, and the boisterous Karolyi, who sounded like a Cold War throwback but was voicing strongly pro-American sentiments.

Later in the week, we were treated to another form of globalization, this time more subtle from the U.S. standpoint. In men’s track and field, several runners from foreign countries were attending college in the United States. After the Olympics, they would return to campus to run for their schools.

Even though they won gold, silver and bronze for their home countries, they have strong American ties thanks to studying here. Wherever they go next, they will take a little bit of the United States with them.

This is how the United States maintains its competitiveness. It adopts the best practices of the rest of the world and learns what others have to teach us. We also export the best of ourselves to the rest of the world, strengthening our influence.

In the end, we are stronger because of our global engagement. When it comes to the Olympics—and to business—it often means we defeat the rest of the world.