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.
If we are to believe that our immigration laws simply have no value, as our current policies would have us believe, should we then simply throw them all out, the entire lot of immigration law? I hope not.
I challenge the Republican nominees and all Republicans to not just be the anti-illegal immigration party. That's not who we are and that's not who we should be we should be the pro-legal immigration party.
I'll never run for office. But I intend, either on the fiscal commission or on issues like immigration, to hopefully have my voice be heard.
U.S. v. Arizona is a landmark case not just because of the constitutional issues related to who regulates and enforces immigration, but because of its civil rights implications, too.
It's impossible to walk a block in Miami, in Los Angeles, San Antonio without running into someone who is being deeply impacted by a broken legal immigration system.
Before there was radical Islam, immigration and terror didn't mix.
We will never stop illegal immigration until this country has a comprehensive, realistic immigration policy.
As an immigrant, I chose to live in America because it is one of the freest and most vibrant nations in the world. And as an immigrant, I feel an obligation to speak up for immigration policies that will keep America the most economically robust, creative and freedom-loving nation in the world.
Mexico takes a hard line on immigration, demanding that visitors to her shores enter lawfully, and show her respect during their stay.
On immigration, Europe is in danger of displaying the worst of itself: selfishness, haphazard decision-making and rows between member states.
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.
We can bring immigration down to sustainable levels.
Proper training and federal supervision in state-federal partnerships are essential to both assuring constitutional rights and enforcing our immigration laws. Our Founding Fathers' concept of federalism does not prohibit such cooperation, and we have learned from experience that joint efforts work best.
The immigration issue is, I recognize, one that generates a lot of passion, but it does not make sense for us to want to push talent out.
One area in which we can be certain mass immigration has an effect is housing. More than one third of all new housing demand in Britain is caused by immigration. And there is evidence that without the demand caused by mass immigration, house prices could be 10% lower over a 20-year period.
The Center for Immigration Studies found that illegal immigrants cost the United States taxpayer about $10.4 billion a year. A large part of that expense stems from the babies born each year to illegal immigrants.
It's also very important in Latin America. If we can deal with the drug problem there, some of their strife there, it's less likely we have immigration problems here.
The fact is, when you hear the Republican candidates on immigration, when you see them and hear them talk about contraception, mammograms, abortion, and not the economy, it's clear to me they're moving farther and farther away from the mainstream.
Gov. Romney said he would veto the Dream Act. Gov. Romney essentially said the 11 million people ought to just go home, they ought to self-deport. President Romney, if he is elected, is not going to fix our immigration system.
Immigration is important. We're a nation of immigrants.
I don't see how the party that says it's the party of the family is going to adopt an immigration policy which destroys families that have been here a quarter century.
Following the war in Europe a large increase of European immigration to the United States is to be expected, of which the largest part is and always has been made up of men skilled in farming.
Hopping the fence or wading the Rio Grande River isn't part of America's immigration process.
Every lethal terrorist attack in the United States since 9/11 has been carried out by an American citizen or a legal permanent resident, not by recent immigrants or by refugees. So tamping down immigration won't fix the real issue, which is 'homegrown' terrorism.
Mexican immigration poses challenges to our policies and to our identity in a way nothing else has in the past.
These are busy times for the Border Patrol, the customs agents, immigration folks; but if we are going to send these agencies to fight a war on drugs, to fight a war against illegal behavior, we have to send them the proper tools.
When I first arrived in the U.S. House of Representatives, I naively believed that it was primarily the Democrats who were committed to open borders. But I quickly learned the entire Republican establishment also supported a policy of immigration non-enforcement.
Legislation passed in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 enhanced our intelligence capabilities and strengthened our national defense, but until now our nation's immigration policies have not adapted to the needs of a post-September 11th world.
In a city that is barely getting by with its small budget, something like illegal immigration can be the difference from being able to provide the level of public service that people expect.
'Know your enemy, name your enemy' is a 9/11 message that has gone unheeded. Our immigration and homeland security policies refuse to profile jihadi adherents at foreign consular offices and at our borders.
What we wouldn't want to see is just a piece of legislation on border security and high tech immigration without focusing on the path to citizenship for the 11 million people who are here, and other provisions.
One of the critical issues that we have to confront is illegal immigration, because this is a multi-headed Hydra that affects our economy, our health care, our health care, our education systems, our national security, and also our local criminality.
When you are a country that is economically well-off - we are not leaving people to live on the street without help - then you have to be strict on immigration because you become the most attractive country to go to.
Certainly in a world where terrorism is a daily reality in the news, it's easy for people to be afraid. But the fact is that we laid out very clearly - and Canadians get - that it's actually not a choice between either immigration or security: that of course they go together.
The right kind of immigrants can benefit the British economy enormously, but no country can accept indiscriminate, unlimited immigration.
