Immigration Quotes - Page 30

• Even Republicans seem to think that these undocumented Democrats could be made [GOP] voters...and what happens is that two out every three that would be legalized [and] become Democrats. And it's not 12 million. It's more like 20 million...But it isn't just the equation of 2/3 of over 20 million that will vote for the guy who opposes our conservative candidate whoever that might be, but it's also those who will leave us if we fail them...We have to go back and tie together and restore the pillars of American exceptionalism and the rule of law is essential.

  Steve King

  Thinking, Law, Two

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• I thought that conclusion that we leaped to right after the election, that has been disproven statistically so many times, I don't know why Republicans would advocate that advocating for comprehensive immigration reform is somehow a political solution for the Republicans losing a percentage of Hispanics. I probably have less appetite for this than either the Senate or colleagues in the House, certainly the Democrats and most likely members of the Republican Conference. They are still wrestling with trying to get their education up to a level where they can actually advocate for policy.

  Steve King

  Wrestling, House, Political

  "Immigration talks gain momentum". www.politico.com.

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• A special pathway to citizenship is off the table... when I talk to members of the group in the Senate, they're saying that we're both saying the same thing.

  Raul Labrador

  Special, Pathways, Groups

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• Any new pathway to citizenship is completely off the table ... [Illegal immigrants should be able to get citizenship] the same way as any other immigrant has to do it ... You have to apply for legal permanent residence, be it family-based or employment-based. You shouldn't be treated worse than the people doing it the right way, but I think it would be unconscionable for us to treat them better than the people who are doing it the right way.

  Raul Labrador

  Thinking, People, Pathways

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• Extending amnesty to those who came here illegally or overstayed their visas is dangerous waters...We are a nation of laws, and I will evaluate any proposal through that matrix.

  Jim Sensenbrenner

  Law, Water, Amnesty

  "House group secretly crafts immigration plan". www.politico.com.

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• It would cost Americans their jobs when they have to compete with millions of more [immigrants] for scarce jobs.

  Lamar S. Smith

  Jobs, Cost, Immigrants

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• American taxpayers will be forced to foot the bill for the overwhelming costs of amnesty. Under current law, once 11 million illegal immigrants receive probationary status, they will immediately have access to federal benefits like Social Security and Obamacare coverage. If we thought we had a problem with government spending before, just wait.

  Lamar S. Smith

  Government, Law, Obamacare

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• We have to stand up for these issues when it's tough, and that's what I've done. I did it when I was in the state legislature, sponsoring the Illinois version of the DREAM Act, so that children who were brought here through no fault of their own are able to go to college, because we actually want well-educated kids in our country who are able to succeed and become part of this economy and part of the American dream.

  Barack Obama

  Dream, Country, Children

  The California Democratic Debate in Los Angeles, www.realclearpolitics.com. January 31, 2008.

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• Number one, it is absolutely critical that we tone down the rhetoric when it comes to the immigration debate, because there has been an undertone that has been ugly. Oftentimes, it has been directed at the Hispanic community. We have seen hate crimes skyrocket in the wake of the immigration debate as it has been conducted in Washington, and that is unacceptable.

  Barack Obama

  Hate, Numbers, Community

  Democratic Debate in Austin, Tex., www.nytimes.com. February 21, 2008.

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• Estiven Rodriguez couldn't speak a word of English when he moved to New York City at age nine. But last month, thanks to the support of great teachers and an innovative tutoring program, he led a march of his classmates - through a crowd of cheering parents and neighbors - from their high school to the post office, where they mailed off their college applications. And this son of a factory worker just found out he's going to college this fall.

  Barack Obama

  Teacher, New York, Cheer

  Fifth Presidential State of the Union, delivered 28 January 2014

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• Number one, it is important that we fix the legal immigration system, because right now we've got a backlog that means years for people to apply legally. And what's worse is, we keep on increasing the fees, so that if you've got a hard working immigrant family, they've got to hire a lawyer; they've got to pay thousands of dollars in fees. They just can't afford it. And it's discriminatory against people who have good character, we should want in this country, but don't have the money. So we've got to fix that.

  Barack Obama

  Country, Character, Mean

  Transcript: Democratic debate in Austin, Texas, www.nytimes.com. December 2, 2008.

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• I do not want two classes of citizens in this country. I want everybody to prosper. That's going to be a top priority.

  Barack Obama

  Country, Class, Two

  Democratic Debate in Austin, Tex., www.nytimes.com. February 21, 2008.

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• The system isn't working when 12 million people live in hiding, and hundreds of thousands cross our borders illegally each year; when companies hire undocumented immigrants instead of legal citizens to avoid paying overtime or to avoid a union; when communities are terrorized by ICE immigration raids -- when nursing mothers are torn from their babies, when children come home from school to find their parents missing, when people are detained without access to legal counsel. When all that's happening, the system just isn't working.

  Barack Obama

  Mother, Baby, Children

  Barack Obama's Addresse to the National Council of La Raza, www.washingtonpost.com. July 15, 2008.

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• I marched with you in the streets of Chicago to meet our immigration challenge. I fought with you in the Senate for comprehensive immigration reform. And I will make it a top priority in my first year as President.

  Barack Obama

  Years, Priorities, Challenges

  Barack Obama's Address to the League of United Latin American Citizens in Washington D.C., www.washingtonpost.com. July 8, 2008.

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• If we are going to solve the challenges we face, you need a President who will pursue genuine solutions day in and day out. And that is my commitment to you. We need immigration reform that will secure our borders, and punish employers who exploit immigrant labor; reform that finally brings the 12 million people who are here illegally out of the shadows by requiring them to take steps to become legal citizens. We must assert our values and reconcile our principles as a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. That is a priority I will pursue from my very first day.

  Barack Obama

  Commitment, Law, People

  Barack Obama's Remarks to NALEO, www.realclearpolitics.com. June 28, 2008.

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• I supported this bill. I believe in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and who have lived here even though sometime back they may have entered illegally.

  Ronald Reagan

  Believe, Ideas, Roots

  Reagan, Ronald (1986). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Ronald Reagan, 1984”, p.1600, Best Books on

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• For one, we very much need in any immigration bill - we need protection for people who are in this country and who have not become citizens, for example, that they are protected and legitimized and given permanent residency here. And we want to see some things of that kind added to the immigration bill.

  Ronald Reagan

  Country, People, Example

  United States. President (1981-1989 : Reagan), Ronald Reagan (1988). “Ronald Reagan”

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• Eh Bien you like this sacred pig of a country?" asked Marco. "Why not? I like it anywhere. It's all the same, in France you are paid badly and live well; here you are paid well and live badly.

  John Dos Passos

  Country, Pigs, Why Not

  John Dos Passos (2003). “Manhattan Transfer: A Novel”, p.31, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• ... the more we recruit from immigrants who bring no personal traditions with them, the more America is going to ignore the things of the spirit. No one whose consuming desire is either for food or for motor-cars is going to care about culture, or even know what it is.

  Katharine Fullerton Gerould

  America, Car, Desire

  Katharine Fullerton Gerould (1920). “Modes and Morals”

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• Beware of listening to this impostor; you are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody.

  Jean-Jacques Rousseau

  Listening, Earth, Fruit

  Jean-Jacques Rousseau (2005). “On the Origin of Inequality”, p.62, Cosimo, Inc.

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• American society is very like a fish society. . . . Among certain species of fish, the only thing which determines order of dominance is length of time in the fishbowl. The oldest resident picks on the newest resident, and if the newest resident is removed to a new bowl, he, as oldest resident, will pick on the newcomers.

  Margaret Mead

  Order, Dominance, Certain

  Margaret Mead (2000). “And Keep Your Powder Dry: An Anthropologist Looks at America”, p.40, Berghahn Books

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• The discrepancy between American ideals and American practice - between our aims and what we actually do - creates a moral dry rot which eats away at the foundations of our democratic faith.

  Helen Gahagan Douglas

  Discrepancies Between, Practice, Dry

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• The melting pot failed to function in one crucial area. Religions and nationalities, however different, generally learned to live together, even to grow together, in America. But color was something else. Reds were murdered like wild animals. Yellows were characterized as a peril and incarcerated en masse during World War ii for no really good reason by our most liberal president. Browns have been abused as the new slave labor on farms. The blacks, who did not come here willingly, are now, more than a century after emancipation by Lincoln, still suffering a host of slave like inequalities.

  Theodore Hesburgh

  War, Animal, America

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• This problem with illegal immigration is nothing new. In fact, the Indians had a special name for it. They called it "white people."

  Jay Leno

  Names, White, People

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• His foreparents came to America in immigrant ships. My foreparents came to America in slave ships. But whatever the original ships, we are both in the same boat tonight.

  Jesse Jackson

  Slave Ships, America, Diversity

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