Immigration Reform Quotes

• 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

  Country, Waste, Immigration

  "Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve Jobs’ Wife, Gives First Interview Since Husband’s Death" by Dan Nakaso, www.huffingtonpost.com. April 12, 2013.

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• A good place to start is with the kids ... One of the great founding principles of our country was that children would not be punished for the mistakes of their parents. It is time to provide an opportunity for legal residence and citizenship for those who were brought to this country as children and who know no other home.

  Eric Cantor

  Country, Children, Mistake

  "Eric Cantor: Dreamers 'Should Receive Pathway To Citizenship'" by Elise Foley, www.huffingtonpost.com. May 02, 2013.

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• Independent economists say immigration reform will grow our economy and shrink our deficits by almost $1 trillion in the next two decades. And for good reason: when people come here to fulfill their dreams - to study, invent, and contribute to our culture - they make our country a more attractive place for businesses to locate and create jobs for everyone. So let's get immigration reform done this year.

  Barack Obama

  Dream, Country, Jobs

  Fifth Presidential State of the Union, delivered 28 January 2014

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

  Jeff Bingaman

  Support, Immigration, Reform

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• When a politician like Marco Rubio is willing to sacrifice his career defining immigration reform legislation solely to insure that gays and lesbians are denied equal protection under the law, we have to admit that we’re under attack. This is not pragmatic politics at work. These are the policies of bias, exclusion and unfairness.

  Harvey Fierstein

  Sacrifice, Gay, Law

  "Don’t End the War on Terror" by Harvey Fierstein, www.huffingtonpost.com. May 28, 2013.

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• If immigration reform passes, it'll be a big victory for sanity - nobody really believes it's healthy for a country to have millions and millions of undocumented noncitizens living in the shadows. But it'll also be a sign that the Republican Party has gotten tired of letting the Tea Party push it around.

  Gail Collins

  Country, Party, Believe

  "An Ethnic Map". Interview with David Brooks, opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com. May 8, 2013.

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

  Marco Rubio

  Government, Immigration, Reform

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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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• I'm also particularly pleased that there is bipartisan support to include the input of border communities. Not only will security be strengthened according to Washington, D.C., but border communities will have a say as well.

  Jeff Flake

  Support, Community, Immigration

  "Who Are the Gang Of 8 in Senate Immigration Debate?" by Mary McGuire, abcnews.go.com. January 30, 2013.

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

  Jeff Flake

  Immigration

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• This isn't all going to be done in one day, either.

  Jeff Flake

  One Day, Immigration, Done

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• Our timing is right... The election results are still fresh in the minds of my Republican colleagues and they don't want to go through this again.

  Dick Durbin

  Mind, Immigration, Election Results

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• I'd like something that faces reality. We have 12 million people in this country that are undocumented - that's a reality. It's not going to be like they're all going to leave. One of the reasons I'm holding this hearing in the morning is to hear from somebody who actually understands what's involved here - Janet Napolitano - and I hope that from what she says and what we hear from her, we can start building some consensus.

  Patrick Leahy

  Country, Morning, Reality

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• There will never be a bill without a pathway to citizenship signed by the president...And in turn there will never be a pathway to citizenship without a new immigration system replacing the current one.

  Lindsey Graham

  President, Pathways, Immigration

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• From a policy point of view, I don't think it's the right approach. I don't like the idea of having millions of people here for their entire life without being able to assimilate into America...From a political point of view, we've got 55 Democrats sent and a 72 percent support for a path to citizenship. It's just not practical to think we'll be able to pass any bill in the United States Senate without a path to citizenship.

  Lindsey Graham

  Thinking, Views, Ideas

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• These are people who wanted to provide for their family and wanted a better life. We've got to have a secure border. But we've also, we've got to act compassionately and recognize labor markets as well. ... I've never thought that it's [path to citizenship] a bad thing. If somebody is going to be here for 20, 30 years, to give them some skin in the game, if you will, to hold out the prospect of citizenship.

  Jeff Flake

  Years, Games, People

  "Jeff Flake: Marco Rubio key on immigration". www.politico.com.

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• We were pleased to hear the President state his firm commitment that he will do whatever is necessary to accomplish this important goal.

  John McCain

  Commitment, Goal, Important

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• 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

  Immigration, Reform, Borders

  "Immigration Reform and the American Worker". www.newyorker.com. February 21, 2013.

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• I am confident - very confident - that if I help solve this problem in a way that we won't have 20 million illegal immigrants 20 years from now, not only will I get re-elected, I can look back and say I was involved in something that was important.

  Lindsey Graham

  Years, Important, Immigration

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• Beyond budget fights, the Obama second-term agenda was supposed to be about passing comprehensive immigration reform.

  Juan Williams

  Fighting, Immigration, Reform

  "Gun Action Central to Obama's Presidency". www.realclearpolitics.com. January 18, 2013.

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• We have so many issues today that we need to confront. Comprehensive immigration reform. We have to solve the issue of poverty, the issue of hunger, the issue of war - spending billions of dollars to kill rather than to build. We have to deal with the fact that all of our children should be receiving the best possible education.

  John Lewis

  Children, War, Issues

  Source: www.teachingbooks.net

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• 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

  Guarantees That, Uncharted Waters, Immigration

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• I've always said that the 1986 [Immigration Reform and Control] Act had a fourth leg [in addition to law enforcement, increased immigration and amnesty] to its stool which was wishful thinking. And that pattern of a four-legged stool was copied in the failed attempts to enact a second and bigger general amnesty for illegal aliens in 2006, 2007, and in the current year 2013.

  Jan C. Ting

  Thinking, Years, Law

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• I intend to have protections for the L.G.B.T. community in there. I'm not going to make choices between that community and the non-L.G.B.T. community.

  Patrick Leahy

  Choices, Community, Immigration

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• In my view it is time to pass a good bill, a fair bill, a comprehensive bill ... Too many have been waiting too long for fairness.

  Patrick Leahy

  Views, Long, Waiting

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