Top 100 Quotes About Immigration
#1. My record of opposition to illegal immigration is unquestioned.
Ann Wagner
#2. We think of immigration as a Western issue but, of course, it isn't.
Kiran Desai
#3. I think immigration system that we have 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
#4. The interesting point is that the polarization is not so much among the public, although there's some of that. The polarization on the immigration issue is really between the elites and the public. In other words, this is not so much a right-left issue, which it is partly.
Mark Krikorian
#5. Significantly opening up immigration to skilled workers solves two problems. The companies could hire the educated workers they need. And those workers would compete with high-income people, driving more income equality.
Alan Greenspan
#6. Out of college, I had two job offers. One was to be a canoe instructor for Outward Bound. And frankly, that would have paid better than the job I took, working on a policy commission in Washington that focused on immigration policy and refugees. But that decision made all the difference.
Rob Portman
#7. 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
#8. There is a common perception that there are two alternative libertarian positions on immigration: government-controlled borders and open borders. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is only one libertarian position on immigration, and that position is open immigration or open borders.
Jacob G. Hornberger
#9. Arnold Schwarzenegger got into a huge debate with Arianna Huffington about immigration - going back and forth - finally immigration came in and hauled them both away.
David Letterman
#10. Hospitals are closing across the country due to the burden of illegal immigration, college students find that summer jobs have dried up due to illegal immigration, and wages across the board are depressed by the overwhelming influx of cheap and illegal labor.
Elton Gallegly
#11. Istanbul is certainly in the process of transforming itself into an attractive cultural, tourist and financial center. But there are also millions of sad stories in this giant sea of immigration, poverty, misery and contradictions. So much anger, frustration and fury.
Orhan Pamuk
#12. When Maricopa County Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio cracked down on illegal immigration without getting permission from Obama, they threatened to revoke his 287(g) status. When Sheriff Joe refused to balk, they filed suit against him with a frivolous civil rights claim.
Russell Pearce
#13. Uruguay is a country which has grown from immigration, people from all over. That is our origin.
Jose Mujica
#14. I'm more than willing to go to places and talk to people who believe that I am an illegal alien who deserves to be jailed. I want to look them in the eye and say, 'What makes you think I'm any different from you?' I think for our generation, immigration rights is a civil rights issue.
Jose Antonio Vargas
#15. Continued reliance on preemption analysis suppresses judicial attention to the discrimination and equality concerns that should be motivating courts' consideration of subfederal immigration regulations.
Pratheepan Gulasekaram
#16. More and more Americans are asking about the price that we have to pay when Wal-Mart comes into a community, treats workers poorly, violates immigration laws and squashes small businesses.
Anthony Weiner
#17. Americans believe in the value of immigration. We are the most generous nation on earth to immigrants, allowing over one million people a year to come here legally.
Marco Rubio
#18. Education is the gateway to the American Dream. But today our immigration laws make higher education - a virtual requirement for financial security - out of reach for more than one million undocumented students.
Wendy Kopp
#19. The problem with the immigration debate, it's probably is the most poisoned and political debate of any issue, because you have this huge voting bloc that everybody says is yours
Greg Gutfeld
#21. I regard many of the neoconservatives as personal friends, but that's not stopped them from behaving with extraordinary viciousness towards those of us who raised the immigration issue.
Peter Brimelow
#22. Quite simply, federal laws already on the books aimed at stopping the flow of illegal immigration must be enforced. Furthermore, states must be given the resources necessary to confront the problem, which includes strengthening the border patrol.
Allen West
#23. On the one hand we publicly pronounce the equality of all peoples; on the other hand, in our immigration laws, we embrace in practice these very theories we abhor and verbally condemn.
Emanuel Celler
#24. We will never stop illegal immigration until this country has a comprehensive, realistic immigration policy.
Ruben Hinojosa
#25. We are going to make sure that America is open to legal immigration because that is wealth and the talent and the entrepreneurial skills for the 21st Century.
Jack Kemp
#26. Independent of politics, the changing narrative on immigration is directly correlated to the fact that we have new technologies that are allowing people to talk to each other and tell their own stories and organize themselves.
Jose Antonio Vargas
#27. It is our hope that in future discussions with the Mexican government, you will encourage Mexico to do its part to address illegal immigration rather than encourage their citizens to illegally enter the U.S.
Elton Gallegly
#28. There is so much work to be done to treat gays and lesbians and gay and lesbian couples with the respect that they're entitled to. They deserve, in my judgment, partnership benefits. They deserve to be treated fairly when it comes to adoption and immigration.
John Edwards
#30. We will have to accept a certain degree of legal immigration; that's globalisation ... In the era of the smartphone, we cannot shut ourselves away ... people know full well how we live in Europe.
Angela Merkel
#31. Ending illegal immigration only strengthens legal immigration.
Mitt Romney
#32. That's more like it - a customs and immigration experience that makes me feel at home. We're
Torre DeRoche
#33. Our attitude towards immigration reflects our faith in the American ideal. We have always believed it possible for men and women who start at the bottom to rise as far as the talent and energy allow. Neither race nor place of birth should affect their chances.
Robert Kennedy
#34. 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
#35. The aging and declining population will have far-reaching impacts. Declining fertility rates will possibly increase immigration. The structure of family and society will inevitably change.
Toshihiko Fukui
#36. The goal of immigration policy should be what is in the best interests of the American people as a whole. I would recommend limiting immigration to spouses and minor children of citizens, plus additional immigrants chosen for special skills needed in the U.S.
Jan C. Ting
#37. Britain's an island; it's always had a constant ebb and flow of immigration - it makes it a better place.
John Lydon
#38. I handed my passport to the immigration officer, and he looked at it and looked at me and said, 'What are you?'
Grace Hopper
#39. I'm not a xenophobe - I think immigration is a good thing for most countries - but they transmute the foibles of their native tongues into English in a way that's difficult to figure out.
Conrad Black
#40. Like all other law-abiding Americans, I fully support legal immigration.
Ted Nugent
#41. One of the things I think a lot about, I am perhaps a great example of the enlightened immigration policy of this country where I was able to come here to study and then stay back and work and build a life.
Satya Nadella
#42. The American people don't trust the Federal Government to enforce our immigration laws, and we will not be able to do anything on immigration until we first prove to the American people that illegal immigration is under control. And we can do that. We know what it takes to do that.
Marco Rubio
#43. If a nation's security is only as strong as its weakest link, then America may be in serious trouble. Hawaii may be our weakest link and could have a serious impact on our nation's immigration policy.
Joe Arpaio
#44. What I put forward was an amendment that would have temporarily halted immigration from high-risk terrorist countries, but would have started it up, but I wanted them to go through Global Entry, which is a program where we do background checks.
Ted Cruz
#45. I'm not wise enough to know what is the right immigration policy for the United States of America.
Donald E. Graham
#46. Immigration is one of the leading contributors to population growth.
Paul Watson
#47. Immigration reforms are always controversial. Our Congress was created to muster political will to answer such challenges. Today we didn't, but tomorrow we will. I yield the floor.
Edward Kennedy
#48. Immigration is the sincerest form of flattery.
Jack Paar
#49. You cannot grant amnesty. If the American people see us granting amnesty they will never again believe in legal immigration. They will never again support it, and that's wrong for our country, bad for our future.
Marco Rubio
#50. 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
#51. Everywhere I travel throughout Eastern Washington, I hear from people demanding we do a better job of controlling our borders and reducing illegal immigration.
Cathy McMorris Rodgers
#52. That may not be a majority position in my party, but that's down the road. You can't even begin that process until you prove to people - not just pass a law that says you're gonna bring illegal immigration under control. You're gonna have to do it and prove to people that it's working.
Marco Rubio
#53. The point of our demographics is that we're not having as many children and the population is stagnant, if not declining. So without immigration, we're not going to have the population.
Susan Oliver
#54. When I started Cove, I spoke to three immigration lawyers who gave me a long checklist of things to do before my company could hire immigrants.
Ruchi Sanghvi
#55. 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
#56. The long-standing wisdom that everyone wins in a single world market has been undermined. Global trade, capital flows, and immigration are declining.
Roger Altman
#57. Stop illegal immigration. Stop these trade deals that are taking jobs from Americans. Build an economy that works for the people at the bottom, not just the ones at the top.
Mike Huckabee
#58. I believe in immigration. But I feel people think it would be better if there was an Australian-style points based system so we could actually get a good system.
Boris Johnson
#59. Obamacare would never have passed without decades of massive immigration from the Third World. Liberals didn't change any minds - they changed the voters.
Ann Coulter
#60. They view massive immigration as a massive infusion of potential voters for the Democratic Party, and therefore will do nothing, absolutely nothing to stop that flow of legal or illegal entrance into the country.
Tom Tancredo
#61. The immigration thing has to be brought to a head, and I feel that the best way to do that is endorse the worst, in the sense of he is a racist and he knows what I'm talking about.
Tom Metzger
#63. The thing is, is that every terrorist attack we've had since 9/11 has been legal immigration.
Ted Cruz
#64. I'm on record saying nothing about immigration until we secure the borders. The borders are not secure.
Kevin McCarthy
#65. I am very supportive of Donald Trump's call to temporarily suspend immigration from countries where terrorists influence and impact represents a threat to the United States.
Mike Pence
#66. I mean, we must act with intelligence. We must work on this framework, so that immigration becomes an asset to both nations. Believe me, what - just the Mayor Bloomberg said here in New York, that this city would be stopped, totally stopped if it were not by the immigrants working here.
Vicente Fox
#67. In America, immigration is the story of hope and achievement, of youth, of freedom, of creation. But all entrances on one stage are exits elsewhere.
A.A. Gill
#68. Why I call Barack Obama a petulant child. He's doing it on guns. He did it on immigration. He's done it on "Obama care."
Chris Christie
#69. 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
#70. 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
#71. Every time one of us starts talking about more effective immigration controls, somebody else throws up the Statue of Liberty, how we're a nation of immigrants and all of that. The debate takes on tinges of racism, emotion.
Alan K. Simpson
#72. Why do we start immigration in 1965? Guess whose idea it was? Ted Kennedy. Ted Kennedy, 1965, we needed to reinstitute the immigration laws. It wasn't based in humanity, although that's the way it was sold. It was rooted in registering voters.
Rush Limbaugh
#73. I believe on the issue of immigration, you have to deal with it sensibly.
Mark Rutte
#74. The economic impact of illegal immigration on taxpayers is catastrophic.
Ric Keller
#75. House Republicans want to pass a strong border security, illegal immigration bill. We want a bill. There is no ifs, ands or buts about it.
John Boehner
#76. And I think for some - not all - but for some Democrats, the issue of immigration is better politically if they just leave it the way it is now because they can use it against Republicans.
Marco Rubio
#77. Therefore, if we are a Nation of laws and a Nation of immigrants, immigration should occur within a legal framework, not through the machinations of illegal schemes and scams that threaten our national security.
J. D. Hayworth
#78. Our Nation's immigration laws are disrespected both by those who cross our borders illegally and by the businesses that hire those illegal immigrants.
Steve Israel
#79. Donald Trump unveiled his immigration policy and now he's getting a lot of flak. His policy would have prevented his own grandfather from coming to America. That explains his new campaign slogan: 'Vote Trump to prevent another Trump.'
Conan O'Brien
#80. 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
#81. We must insist on assimilation - immigration without assimilation is an invasion. We need to tell folks who want to come here, they need to come here legally. They need to learn English, adopt our values, roll up their sleeves and get to work.
Bobby Jindal
#82. There's definitely a huge gap between the elite and public perceptions on immigration.
Mark Krikorian
#83. Well, my constituents are happy that the Republican Party has finally gotten off its duff, seeing that we do control the House and the Senate and the presidency, and taken up the issue of illegal immigration.
Dana Rohrabacher
#84. Amnesty is a big billboard, a flashing billboard, to the rest of the world that we don't really mean our immigration law.
Richard Lamm
#85. If our government has a policy, any political subdivision, that limits or restricts the enforcement of our immigration laws, we will sue them! And that suit will be $5,000 a day every day until that policy is changed! This law will be enforced.
Russell Pearce
#87. This is the most generous country in the world when it comes to immigration. There are a million people a year who legally immigrate to the United States, and people feel like we're being taken advantage of.
Marco Rubio
#88. It's perfectly reasonable and responsible policy for any nation to maintain its sovereignty, to protect its borders. And [Donald] Trump does not believe in ending immigration. He's never proposed that.
Jeff Sessions
#89. People think [immigration] is only about the dollar, but it's so much more complex. This is a place where you can reinvent yourself. I don't know that you can do that anywhere else.
Esmeralda Santiago
#90. We have to ensure that our immigration system works in the interests of Britain, enabling us to make a realistic promise to our young school-leavers. It is part of our contract with the British people.
Iain Duncan Smith
#91. The frustrations have been festering for 12 years because federal policy has forced immigration into this area with no programs to accommodate this thrust and no dollars for education or jobs or social services ... we have become a repository but no beneficiary of federal actions.
Sharon Pratt Kelly
#92. Immigration is a volatile issue, but we're in the middle of it now, and probably the worst thing to do is to not do anything. Everybody recognizes the current system is not working the way we want it to work. It has huge flaws to it; need to do something.
Sam Brownback
#93. I still am amazed by the reaction I get from people when I tell them that there was zero immigration in this country from 1924 to 1965. And the reason that people don't know that, A, they just don't know it, it's not reported, it's never been part of history class, history education.
Rush Limbaugh
#94. It is both a right and a responsibility of a democratic society to manage immigration so that it serves the national interest.
Barbara Jordan
#95. I think most Americans would agree that we need sensible solutions that fix our immigration system and deal humanely with aspiring citizens currently in our country. At the same time, these solutions must increase the security of our borders.
Linda Sanchez
#96. Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a great guy.He endorsed me because I'm the best in immigration. And I think by his definition of the best, it's the best and the toughest.
Donald Trump
#97. Immigration, as promoted by the Democrat Party, really is a voter registration drive, pure and simple. It is a desire by the Democrat Party to find another way to remain in perpetual power, by creating as many dependent voters as they can.
Rush Limbaugh
#98. I was taken off from plane and interrogated by U.S. Immigration in Canada on my views on drones. My stance is known. Drone attacks must stop,
Imran Khan
#99. I set out in television with one simple goal: to purchase a Russian bride. Didn't work out. Immigration stuff - it's complicated.
Joss Whedon
#100. 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
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