A Nation of Immigrants
"Let me be clear: we are still a nation of immigrants, and we honor all those immigrants who are working hard to become new citizens."
-Bill Clinton
42nd President of the United States
1996 State of the Union speech
The United States will elect a new commander-in-chief in just a few shorts months, and both candidates have pledged to make immigration reform a priority. Barack Obama and John McCain have praised the contributions that immigrants have made to America, and both have expressed their desire to see a comprehensive bill passed.
But what did our nation’s past leaders think about immigration in America? As a nation of immigrants, it is a subject that defines our nation, and one that has generated intense emotion and controversy since America’s inception.
MATT.org presents a selection of thoughts and ideas expressed by our country’s most prominent leaders, both path and present.
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“What Alexis de Tocqueville saw in America was a society of immigrants, each of whom had begun life anew, on an equal footing. This was the secret of America: a nation of people with the fresh memory of old traditions who dared to express new frontiers…”
-John F. Kennedy
35th President on the United States
“Thanks to immigrants we have become the wealthiest nation, and the most powerful.”
-John McLaughlin
Journalist, producer, and host of the McLaughlin Group
“Many U.S. firms, including Microsoft, have been forced to locate staff in countries that welcome skilled foreign workers to do work that could otherwise have been done in the United States, if it were not for our counterproductive immigration policies.”
-Bill Gates
Cofounder, Chairman of Microsoft
“An enforcement-only approach will not address the full breadth of the nation’s immigration challenges over the long term. Only congressional action will achieve that goal.”
-Michael Chertoff
Secretary of Homeland Security
“Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrations and revolutionists.”
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
“So I say…to all our immigrants, you are welcome here. But you must honor laws, embrace our culture, learn our language, know our history; and when the time comes, you should become citizens. And I say to all Americans, we have responsibilities as well to welcome our newest immigrants, to vigorously enforce laws against discrimination.”
-Bill Clinton
42nd President of the United States
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