Top 65 Immigration Quotes

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Immigration is the act of moving from one country to another country where you are not a citizen. With that in mind, check out the top 65 immigration quotes.

#65 – 60. Immigration Quotes

65. Illegal immigration can never be completely stopped, no matter how high the wall or how many patrol agents you have watching it. – Gail Collins

64. I am among those Americans whose ancestors include men and women from many different European countries. The proportion of Americans of this type will steadily increase. I do not believe in hyphenated Americans. I do not believe in German-Americans or Irish-Americans; and I believe just as little in English-Americans. I do not approve of American citizens of German descent forming organizations to force the United States into practical alliance with Germany because their ancestors came from Germany. Just as little do I believe in American citizens of English descent forming leagues to force the United States into an alliance with England because their ancestors came from England. – Theodore Roosevelt

63. Citizenship to me is more than a piece of paper. Citizenship is also about character. I am an American. We’re just waiting for our country to recognize it. – Jose Antonio Vargas

62. Immigration laws are the only laws that are discussed in terms of how to help people who break them. – Thomas Sowell

61. [Let] the poor the needy and oppressed of the Earth, and those who want Land, resort to the fertile lands of our western country, the second land of Promise, and there dwell in peace, fulfilling the first and great commandment. – George Washington

60. Mr. Speaker, our Nation depends on immigrants’ labor, and I hope we can create an immigration system as dependable as they are. – Luis Gutierrez

#59 – 56. Immigration Quotes

59. He doesn’t like my name… Of course we couldn’t all come over on the Mayflower… But I got here as soon as I could, and I never wanted to go back, because to me it is a great privilege to be an American citizen. – Anton Cermak

58. Without comprehension, the immigrant would forever remain shut — a stranger in America. Until America can release the heart as well as train the hand of the immigrant, he would forever remain driven back upon himself, corroded by the very richness of the unused gifts within his soul. – Anzia Yezierska

57. The economic impact of illegal immigration on taxpayers is catastrophic. – Ric Keller

56. Immigrant families have integrated themselves into our communities, establishing deep roots. Whenever they have settled, they have made lasting contributions to the economic vitality and diversity of our communities and our nation. Our economy depends on these hard-working, taxpaying workers. They have assisted America in its economic boom. – Senator Edward M. Kennedy

#55 – 50. Immigration Quotes

55. We came to America, either ourselves or in the persons of our ancestors, to better the ideals of men, to make them see finer things than they had seen before, to get rid of the things that divide and to make sure of the things that unite. – Woodrow Wilson

54. Nearly all Americans have ancestors who braved the oceans – liberty-loving risk takers in search of an ideal – the largest voluntary migrations in recorded history… Immigration is not just a link to America’s past; it’s also a bridge to America’s future. – George H.W. Bush

53. 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 F. Kennedy

52. Immigration is one of the leading contributors to population growth. – Paul Watson

51. The proposition that Muslims are welcome in Britain if, and only if, they stop behaving like Muslims is a doctrine which is incompatible with the principles that guide a free society. – Roy Hattersley

50. Everywhere immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American life. – John F. Kennedy

#49 – 46. Immigration Quotes

49. The most effective way to stop illegal immigration is by imposing severe consequences for employers who violate the law. – Karen Kenney

48. Immigration comes up, but the issue that is on everybody’s mind is the economy. – Mario Diaz-Balart

47. Immigration is a gateway basically. It’s a check-off point for Latino voters. – Jeb Bush

46. I received a letter just before I left office from a man. I don’t know why he chose to write it, but I’m glad he did. He wrote that you can go to live in France, but you can’t become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Italy, but you can’t become a German, an Italian. He went through Turkey, Greece, Japan and other countries. But he said anyone, from any corner of the world, can come to live in the United States and become an American. – Ronald Reagan

#45 – 40. Immigration Quotes

45. It almost seems that nobody can hate America as much as native Americans. America needs new immigrants to love and cherish it. – Eric Hoffer

44. While I support immigration regulated through a legal framework, I do not support rewarding those who broke the law to get here. – Kit Bond

43. We are a nation of immigrants. We are the children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the ones who wanted a better life, the driven ones, the ones who woke up at night hearing that voice telling them that life in that place called America could be better. – Mitt Romney

42. The truth is, immigrants tend to be more American than people born here. – Chuck Palahniuk

41. The United States should be an asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty. – Thomas Paine

40. People come here penniless but not cultureless. They bring us gifts. We can synthesize the best of our traditions with the best of theirs. We can teach and learn from each other to produce a better America… – Mary Pipher

#39 – 36. Immigration Quotes

39. Immigration is the sincerest form of flattery. – Jack Paar

38. Stopping illegal immigration would mean that wages would have to rise to a level where Americans would want the jobs currently taken by illegal aliens. – Thomas Sowell

37. Born in other countries, yet believing you could be happy in this, our laws acknowledge, as they should do, your right to join us in society, conforming, as I doubt not you will do, to our established rules. That these rules shall be as equal as prudential considerations will admit, will certainly be the aim of our legislatures, general and particular. – Thomas Jefferson

36. At the very end, what is going to happen is that immigration will be reduced considerably. And how can we get to that stage? By agreements on sectors. – Vicente Fox

#35 – 30. Immigration Quotes

35. More than any other nation on Earth, America has constantly drawn strength and spirit from wave after wave of immigrants. In each generation, they have proved to be the most restless, the most adventurous, the most innovative, the most industrious of people. Bearing different memories, honoring different heritages, they have strengthened our economy, enriched our culture, renewed our promise of freedom and opportunity for all…. – Bill Clinton

34. Immigration isn’t always good for the economy or jobs. – Geoff Mulgan

33. The making of an American begins at the point where he himself rejects all other ties, any other history, and himself adopts the vesture of his adopted land. – James Baldwin

32. I’ve always argued that this country has benefited immensely from the fact that we draw people from all over the world. – Alan Greenspan

31. I’m not saying we need to stop immigration at all; people can come from wherever. – Jeb Bradley

30. The greatest nations are defined by how they treat their weakest inhabitants. – Jorge Ramos

#29 – 26. Immigration Quotes

29. Whenever I write about immigration, I hear heart-wrenching stories of computer workers who are unemployed and facing severe hardship. – Vivek Wadhwa

28. Immigration is a good thing. We should make that as easy as possible. – Gary Johnson

27. 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…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, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile…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

26. The bosom of America is open to receive not only the Opulent and respected Stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all Nations and Religions; whom we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and privileges… – George Washington

#25 – 20. Immigration Quotes

25. The great social adventure of America is no longer the conquest of the wilderness but the absorption of fifty different peoples. – Walter Lippmann

24. 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

23. Remember, remember always, that all of us, you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists. – Franklin D. Roosevelt

22. 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

21. I’m in favor of immigration but we also need rules. – Gary Ackerman

20. Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country. – Theodore Roosevelt

#19 – 16. Immigration Quotes

19. The land flourished because it was fed from so many sources–because it was nourished by so many cultures and traditions and peoples. – Lyndon B. Johnson

18. There are no limits to either time or distance, except as man himself may make them. I have but to touch the wind to know these things. – Hal Borland

17. I’m troubled by [the immigration debate]. When [my family] came from England during the war, people said, You are welcome here. What can we do to help? I am a beneficiary of the American people’s generosity, and I hope we can have comprehensive immigration legislation that allows this country to continue to be enriched by those who were not born here. – Madeleine Albright

16. Immigration enthusiasts are so hysterical. – Peter Brimelow

#15 – 10. Immigration Quotes

15. If you have a solution to immigration, it is possible to come home and defend it. – Lamar Alexander

14. 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

13. They are willing to fight for a country that they weren’t even citizens of. I wish all Americans felt that way about their country. – Captain Kirk Thorsteinson

12. A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in.. And how many want out. – Tony Blair

11. It says something about our country that people around the world are willing to leave their homes and leave their families and risk everything to come to America. Their talent and hard work and love of freedom have helped make America the leader of the world. And our generation will ensure that America remains a beacon of liberty and the most hope fill society this world has ever known. – George W. Bush

10. Immigration is a sensitive topic. – Mario Diaz-Balart

#9 – 6. Immigration Quotes

9. We must make immigration a legal, orderly process to eliminate this issue, not further criminalize it. – Jose Serrano

8. There was a time when we the U.S. had completely unrestricted immigration, when anybody could come to these shores and the motto on the Statue of Liberty had some real meaning. This was a country of hope and of promise for immigrants and their children, and as many as a million immigrants a year came in 1906 and ’07 and ’08. By 1914, roughly a third of the population was foreign-born or the immediate descendants of foreign-born…The fact that year after year hundreds of thousands of people left the countries of Europe to come to this country was persuasive evidence that they were coming to improve their lot, not to worsen it. – Milton Friedman

7. Immigration is not just compatible with but is a necessary component of economic growth. – Dave Reichert

6. Immigration should be enforced in a proportional and humane manner. – Roger Mahony

#5 – 1. Immigration Quotes

5. There is nothing less to our credit than our neglect of the foreigner and his children, unless it be the arrogance most of us betray when we set out to Americanize him. – Charles Horton Cooley

4. I had fought against the unjust restriction of immigration. – Emanuel Celler

3. On immigration, there are a lot of hurdles before anything arrives at the White House. – Gwen Ifill

2. I had always hoped that this land might become a safe and agreeable asylum to the virtuous and persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong. – George Washington

1. When you enlisted into the armed forces you swore to support and defend a Constitution that did not yet fully apply to you. You chose to endure the same sacrifices as your fellow comrades in arms to preserve the freedom of a land that was not yet fully yours. You accepted that you might have to pay the ultimate price on behalf of a nation to which you did not fully belong. Now, you will officially become citizens of the United States, a country to which each of you has already borne true faith and allegiance in your hearts and your deeds. – General David Petraeus

Ideas for the top 65 immigration quotes come from the following sources.^[1]Quoteland – Immigrations Quotes^[2]Citizen Path – Immigrations^[3]Wise Old Sayings – Immigrations Sayings and Quotes