Quotes About Immigration Reform

#1. Our immigration policy should be driven by what is in the best interest of this great country and the American people. Comprehensive immigration reform will strengthen U.S. security and boost economic growth.

Charles B. Rangel

#2. It is vitally important that we implement immigration reform. We need a bill that strengthens our borders and protects this nation, but that also makes it simpler for good people to become Americans.

Dave Reichert

#3. Our immigration law sucks, and we need to redo the whole thing, comprehensive immigration reform. And what that's gonna be is anybody who wants to come and vote Democrat, we're gonna send 'em a limousine and bring 'em in.

Rush Limbaugh

#4. This bill [Immigration Reform and Control act of 1986] is a gamble, a riverboat gamble. There is no guarantee that employer sanctions will work or that amnesty will work. We are headed into uncharted waters.

Charles Schumer

#5. Immigration reform doesn't impact me personally; nothing my foundation works on does. But the truth is I have a long history of ties to Latin America. Some of my best friends are in Latin America.

Howard Graham Buffett

#6. If our focus in immigration reform is exclusively on high-skilled or STEM immigrants, where do the rest of the millions yearning to join our ranks fit in?

Cedric Richmond

#7. Already we're seeing graduates of U.S. higher education going back to their home countries and contributing to societies there, where in the past they would have stayed in the U.S. and built new companies here. We have to have immigration reform that allows talented foreigners to become Americans.

David Malpass

#8. There is this kind of sense in the immigrant community, first we were going to do immigration reform, but then 9/11 happened.

Luis Gutierrez

#9. Waiting for a long-term solution to immigration reform will not make Americans safer.

Bruce Braley

#10. I recently spoke with Barbara Jordan of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, and I increasingly believe we need a system to verify employment eligibility. The Commission's recommendation of a national registry may be the way to go.

William J. Clinton

#11. As the American public continues to focus more intensely on illegal immigration and securing the nation's borders, the number of members of the House Immigration Reform Caucus continues to grow.

Virgil Goode

#12. Together, undocumented people like me and our relatives, friends and allies wait for broader immigration reform, not just for Dreamers but also for undocumented workers of all ages and backgrounds who contribute to our economic security and prosperity.

Jose Antonio Vargas

#13. The fact of the matter is, is that we need our borders secured. Certainly, we realize that there's going to have to be some kind of immigration reform, but I don't believe any of that's going to move forward until our border is secured.

Jan Brewer

#14. I believe the House of Representatives is exactly the place where immigration reform should take place. Our entire House is elected every two years. We're the people closest to the people.

Aaron Schock

#15. The time for common-sense immigration reform is now," Grayson said in a news release. "We must set forth a straightforward route to citizenship for the undocumented immigrants who already live in our communities, work for our businesses and want to give back to the country that they call home.

Alan Grayson

#16. Immigration reform is a must, an amnesty. So that's my position. I've been pushing that one since before it was popular.

Dick Mountjoy

#17. America deserves common sense immigration reform that reflects our interests and our values as Americans.

Hank Johnson

#18. Lost in much of the national debate about immigration reform is how Democrats ultimately stand to gain electorally with any legislation or executive action that would put the newly legalized residents on a path to voting.

Aaron Klein

#19. Economic conservatives like immigration reform, and in fact, many of them supported the bill that John McCain and I put together in the Senate.

Chuck Schumer

#20. I want immigration reform to pass, I want people to be able to come out of the shadows.

Marco Rubio

#21. Conservatism has always been about reforming government and solving problems, and that's why the conservative movement should lead on immigration reform.

Marco Rubio

#22. Laws are getting passed in states like Alabama that basically would punish American citizens who are 'harboring' people. Since the federal government hasn't been able to muster or to get comprehensive immigration reform passed, states are taking it upon themselves to police and enforce laws.

Jose Antonio Vargas

#23. Sen. Robert Menendez's Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2010 would try to nullify every single state and local law that fights illegal immigration. Congressman Luis Gutierrez's CIR ASAP Act with over 100 Democratic co-sponsors does the same thing.

Russell Pearce

#24. I ... now see a rare opportunity to push across the goal line much of the unfinished business of America: investing in our infrastructure and workers, universal healthcare, comprehensive immigration reform and scrubbing a tax code that's out of shape and behind the times.

Xavier Becerra

#25. I believe immigration reform is a commitment of President Obama's government, especially since it gives him a chance to respond to the great demand expressed by U.S. Hispanic voters.

Enrique Pena Nieto

#26. Part of comprehensive immigration reform is not just the path to citizenship for undocumented workers, but also the ability for families to be together.

Pramila Jayapal

#27. Immigration reform almost happened under President George W. Bush. Twice. And it was comprehensive.

Mark McKinnon

#28. Even if we didn't have a single person in the USA in violation of immigration laws, we'd still have to do immigration reform, because our legal immigration system is broken. It's not good for anybody.

Marco Rubio

#29. Comprehensive immigration reform would reduce the deficit and help grow the economy.

Scott Peters

#30. There are a lot of people who are eager to assign blame. I think we're [USA] eager to try and find some solutions. One thing that would help would be comprehensive immigration reform legislation.

Josh Earnest

#31. I absolutely advocate for comprehensive immigration reform.

Susana Martinez

#32. Obama wants to raise the issue of immigration reform so that he can demonize Republicans as anti-Hispanic. That's why Obama ignores the broad support for an immigration plan that would provide border security once and for all and then deal with the illegal immigrants who live here.

Ben Shapiro

#33. We need to decouple the movement for comprehensive immigration reform and justice for immigrants from the legislative process and from the Democratic Party process. They are too linked.

Luis Gutierrez

#34. I want to have a good vote in the Senate so we send the message that the Republicans and the Democrats are together in favor of immigration reform.

Bob Menendez

#35. We must have sweeping, generous immigration reform, make existing law- abiding Hispanics welcome. Most are hard working family people.

Rupert Murdoch

#36. Marco Rubio, I think, will be president some day. Whether 2016 is his time, time will tell. He embraced immigration reform. He seems to have backed off. I'll let him explain why.

Lindsey Graham

#37. I would argue that you're only going to get the conservatives, particularly a Republican House, to pass immigration reform if we, as conservatives, are reassured that the border is controlled and that we get to vote on whether the border is controlled.

Rand Paul

#38. I hope that Republicans in the House and Mr. Cantor will embrace that as part of immigration reform.

Dick Durbin

#39. I think comprehensive immigration reform while securing your border and dealing rationale with 11 million is the only way we're going to solve this problem.

Lindsey Graham

#40. In terms of immigration, we're seeing a lot of Democrats and Republicans use the really elastic term, 'Comprehensive Immigration Reform,' and they don't totally understand what that means. For us in El Paso, it's part of a larger discussion about the nature of the border.

Beto O'Rourke

#41. Those life experiences that helped shaped my political beliefs are with me in every position I take and every vote that I cast - whether it be in favor of comprehensive immigration reform, strengthening Social Security and Medicare, or improving our nation's education system.

Mark Takano

#42. When it comes to immigration reform, now is the time ... I've never seen a better political environment ... I'm not doing immigration reform to solve the Republican Party's political problem. I'm trying to save our nation from, I think, a shortage of labor and a catastrophic broken system.

Lindsey Graham

#43. Workers who come to the U.S. see their wages and their standard of living boosted sharply simply by crossing the border. That's a good thing, and one of the best arguments for immigration reform, even if you'll rarely hear a politician make it.

James Surowiecki

#44. 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

#45. I actually think there are more Republicans than people realize who would be sympathetic to immigration reform in the rank and file. I think the lesson for Jeb Bush is politicians shouldn't write books with long lead times.

E. J. Dionne

#46. Going forward, as we work to strengthen our border in the interests of homeland security, we must also recognize the economic importance of immigration reform.

Dave Reichert

#47. I worry that the Senate is working to consider a series of little-noticed provisions in comprehensive immigration reform that may provide a pathway to a national ID card for all individuals present in the United States - citizens and noncitizens,

Rand Paul

#48. I started getting more and more active around immigration reform because this was such a waste of lives, such a waste of potential, such a waste for our country not to have the human capital that we developed - geared toward improving our entire society.

Laurene Powell Jobs

#49. I'm for immigration reform. I think the system's horribly broken, and we need to do something about it.

Rand Paul

#50. The question for immigration reform is not if we'll get it done, it's when we'll get it done. It's going to get done.

Xavier Becerra

#51. I support concrete and progressive immigration reform based on three primary criteria: family reunification, economic contributions, and humanitarian concerns.

Jeff Bingaman

#52. Senator Marco 'amnesty' Rubio, while proponents of immigration reform say the Florida Republican was quick to retreat when the going got tough.

Donald Trump

#53. America draws tremendous strength from its diversity, which prompts the question, as Congress contemplates comprehensive immigration reform, why are some lawmakers aiming to curb diversity instead of promoting it?

Cedric Richmond

#54. I still believe the momentum is there to accomplish comprehensive immigration reform, and I think there is a bipartisan coalition that would pass right now, a pathway to citizenship if Speaker Boehner lets it come to the floor.

Joaquin Castro

#55. The majority of surveys throughout this Nation show that the American people are advocating for a comprehensive and realistic approach to immigration reform.

Raul Grijalva

#56. Conservatives have always wanted border security before we had immigration reform.

Rand Paul

#57. There seems to be a lot of momentum behind immigration reform.

Justin Amash

#58. I don't think it was progressive to vote to give gun makers and sellers immunity. I don't think it was progressive to vote against Ted Kennedy's immigration reform.

Hillary Clinton

#59. I still passionately support comprehensive immigration reform legislation with a path to full and equal citizenship.

Hillary Clinton

#60. While he was in Utah, Obama discussed immigration reform with leaders of the Mormon Church. Obama introduced the first lady. Then the church's president introduced HIS first lady. And his second lady. And his third, fourth, and fifth ladies.

Jimmy Fallon

#61. It's a significant contribution if we can get immigration reform done.

Julian Castro

#62. I've always been for immigration reform; in 2007 I just didn't feel it had enough protections.

Tom Harkin

#63. You reduce illegal immigration by making it harder to get jobs here, or easier to get jobs south of the border. This idea that we can't pass an immigration law until we hit some imaginary security target is just a way to derail reform.

Gail Collins

#64. I wish that the Democrats would put some effort into Social Security reform, illegal immigration's reform, tax reform, or some of the other real issues that are out there.

Jack Kingston

#65. I hope I'll have the opportunity to debate how we reform and update our immigration system. I will relate my own story and that of the countless immigrants whose American Dream stories have helped build our country into the greatest nation in the world.

Ami Bera

#66. It's going to take a while for some of these things.

Jeff Flake

#67. Moreover, from reforming the tax code to our immigration system, to commonsense legal reform, President Bush put America on notice that he will continue fighting to make the country, and the world, a better place for future generations.

Jim Sensenbrenner

#68. On Immigration policy and reform [Republicans] are on the wrong side of the track ... They would have you believe that if they get into office, they are going to make sure that they are going to get rid of everyone in our society who was not born in America.

Maxine Waters

#69. Our immigration system is a broken system that needs to be fixed. We need reform that provides hardworking people of good character with a real path towards citizenship.

Joe Baca

#70. We can't really have a serious debate about reform on immigration if we don't have operational control of the border ... With the executive order out there, with the urgency of the threat, I think it's very likely that we'll get something passed, later this year.

Michael McCaul

#71. We have history as a guide, and history suggests that this brand of comprehensive reform ... is a recipe for failure.

David Vitter