Washington, Jun 28 (IANS): Ndaba Mandela, the grandson of the late Nelson Mandela, said his grandfather would have been a vocal voice for the rights of immigrants if he were still alive.

Speaking at the Library of Congress here about the legacy of his grandfather, the first black president of South Africa, Ndaba Mandela said on Wednesday: "I think he would really appeal to the humanitarian side of us and say, do we yet forget that this country was built by foreigners?"

"The fundamentals of this country (US), the building blocks of this country... (were) built by a lot of immigrants. So how now do we forget where we came from?

"And I think he would really appeal to say at the end of the day, no one lives in isolation; let us understand we all live in an interdependent world, and we need to understand and realize and recognize that we have one common destiny as humankind."

Ndaba Mandela is the founder and chairman of the Africa Rising Foundation and has a new book, "Going to the Mountain: Life Lessons from My Grandfather".

In a discussion with Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden at the event, Mandela spoke out against the harsh treatment of migrants in countries around the world, including his home country, South Africa.

"South Africans were physically attacking Ethiopians, Zimbabweans, Nigerians, etc., saying that they're stealing our jobs, and messing up our economy. Which is a damn shame," Ndaba Mandela said.

"It's a damn shame because these are the very same people that assisted you in liberating your country!

The discussion though was not only focused on current events as Mandela also shared memories of his grandfather, The Hill reported.

He said he wrote the book to celebrate what would have been his grandfather's 100th birthday in July and to help preserve his legacy.