Legal Immigration Quotes

• Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.

  Franklin D. Roosevelt

  Xenophobia, Patriotic, Usa

  Remarks before Daughters of the American Revolution Convention, Washington, D.C., 21 Apr. 1938. Often paraphrased as Roosevelt's addressing the DAR as "my fellow immigrants."

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• In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American.

  Theodore Roosevelt

  Men, Firsts, Facts

  Theodore Roosevelt (1954). “Letters of Theodore Roosevelt: The days of Armageddon, 1900-1914”

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• A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation.

  Ronald Reagan

  Borders, Migration, Nations

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• There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.

  Theodore Roosevelt

  Loyalty, Men, People

  "Teddy Roosevelt's Immigration Speech Holds True Today" by Barbara Wamboldt, www.thewhig.com. July 07, 2010.

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• Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

  Emma Lazarus

  Tired, Civilization, Urbanization

  "The New Colossus" l. 10 (1883).

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• We should be the pro-legal immigration party. A party that has a positive platform and agenda on how we can create a legal immigration system that works for immigrants and works for America.

  Marco Rubio

  Positive, Party, America

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• The truth is, immigrants tend to be more American than people born here.

  Chuck Palahniuk

  People, Migrants, Immigration

  Chuck Palahniuk (2001). “Choke: A Novel”, Anchor Books

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• Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore, send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

  Emma Lazarus

  Inspirational, Freedom, Tired

  "The New Colossus" l. 10 (1883).

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• We must say no to illegal immigration so we can continue to say yes to legal immigration.

  William J. Clinton

  Immigration, Illegal, Illegal Immigration

  Clinton, William J. (1994). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton, 1993”, p.1194, Best Books on

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• We ought to increase legal immigration for our country's advantage. The high-tech world we are now dominating is dependent on educated folks, but we're short...of workers. It is to our nation's advantage to encourage high-powered, smart people to come into our country.

  George H. W. Bush

  Country, Smart, People

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• Illegal immigration is crisis for our country. It is an open door for drugs, criminals, and potential terrorists to enter our country. It is straining our economy, adding costs to our judicial, healthcare, and education systems.

  Timothy Murphy

  Country, Doors, Drug

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• Conservatives aren't anti-immigrant - conservatives are pro-legal immigration.

  Marco Rubio

  Immigration, Immigrants

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• Ending illegal immigration only strengthens legal immigration.

  Mitt Romney

  Immigration, Illegal, Illegal Immigration

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• America is a nation of immigrants. And so the question is, how do we make legal immigration faster, less bureaucratic, cut the red tape?

  Barack Obama

  Cutting, America, Immigration

  Source: www.realclearpolitics.com

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• Legal immigration is a process. You learn everything about the people coming in. You find out how many of 'em are prone to vote Republican. You don't ask 'em this; you just learn.

  Rush Limbaugh

  People, Immigration, Ems

  Source: www.rushlimbaugh.com

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• I'm a child of immigrants. That is the history of this country. Immigration is good and important for our country. Legal immigration needs to really be modernized.

  John Barrasso

  Country, Children, Important

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• I think the immigration system we have now is terrible for the United States of America. We have a legal immigration system that does not work. It does not reflect the economic needs of this country in the 21st century. It needs to be modernized.

  Marco Rubio

  Country, Thinking, America

  Source: alter.newsweek.msnbc.com

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• [Tom Cotton] is known for his efforts to scale back legal immigration. Legal. He wants to stop legal immigrants from coming to this country. That`s very popular in Republican politics .

  Rachel Maddow

  Country, Effort, Want

  Source: www.msnbc.com

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• We for sure need to secure the border. I think we need to enforce the legal system. I'm not for amnesty, I'm not an advocate of the plans that have been pushed here in Washington... we need to find a way for people to have a legitimate legal immigration system in this country, and that doesn't mean amnesty.

  Scott Walker

  Country, Mean, Thinking

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• Congressional mistakes have dramatically increased immigration through a series of what I believe were ill-advised actions going back to 1965 when the basic notions of our immigration laws were revised. In 1990, Congress opened the floodgates by passing a 35-percent increase in legal immigration.

  Ronald Reagan

  Mistake, Believe, Law

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• I support lowering the level of legal immigration by a moderate amount at this time. Legal immigration reform must be based upon principles that are pro-family, pro-work, and pro-naturalization, retaining opportunities for family reunification as the levels are lowered. We must not let this issue become divisive in this country.

  William J. Clinton

  Country, Opportunity, Issues

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• On immigration policy, I believe we ought to call an immediate halt, stop illegal immigration and reduce legal immigration back to about 250,000 to 300,000, to more easily assimilate the Americans who've come here in the last 30 years.

  Pat Buchanan

  Believe, Years, Immigration

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• We are all the sons or daughters of immigrants - some more recent than others - but all dedicated to the triumph of an idea that serves as the touchstone of what it means to be an American. This America is the only America that we have hitherto known - if being conservative has anything to do with conserving the principles of our past, then no conservative has any business bashing legal immigration.

  Jack Kemp

  Daughter, Mean, Son

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• I support legal immigration. I don't support amnesty because it is not fair to people standing in line at consulates around the world.

  Heather Wilson

  People, Support, Standing In Line

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• Labor force needs and economic conditions are disregarded in our policies. Many aspects of our current policies and procedures are patently wrong. For example, legal immigration has almost no link to U.S. employment needs or economic conditions.

  Ronald Reagan

  Labor Force, Policies And Procedures, Immigration

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