Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
If Republicans and Democrats alike truly believe DACA should stay and be a permanent part of immigration reform, then they should use their elected power to make it so.
We need a new tax system. We need entitlement reform. We need immigration reform. These are not easy things. But it is going to take our political system working better.
As we continue to work to pass comprehensive immigration reform, we must take action to stop these predators who are exploiting immigrants attempting to play by the rules.
The future of the Republican Party, all the different folks looking to lead the Republican Party at the national level in the future, recognize we should do immigration reform.
I want immigration reform to come into fruition, and I want it to be comprehensive, and I want it to have a path to citizenship, and I want to be involved politically every day.
I believe immigration reform is a commitment of President Obama's government, especially since it gives him a chance to respond to the great demand expressed by U.S. Hispanic voters.
The only real solution is comprehensive immigration reform that secures our borders and provides a path to legal status for non-felons who are here without proper legal documentation.
If we value children and family, there's a great need for change, and we should try immigration reform - create a path for citizenship for people already here, update the visa system.
We need to decouple the movement for comprehensive immigration reform and justice for immigrants from the legislative process and from the Democratic Party process. They are too linked.
Democrats and Republicans agree on most of a unified, politically viable, and workable immigration reform package. Both parties agree that border security is a key part of any strategy.
Former Sen. Alan Simpson of Wyoming, the co-author of the 1986 Simpson-Mazzoli immigration reform bill, has said the failure of that bill was a function of the lack of an ID card system.
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.
We need comprehensive immigration reform. Dr. King wouldn't be pleased at all to know that there are millions of people living in the shadow, living in fear in places like Georgia and Alabama.
As the American public continues to focus more intensely on illegal immigration and securing the nation's borders, the number of members of the House Immigration Reform Caucus continues to grow.
Immigration reform doesn't impact me personally; nothing my foundation works on does. But the truth is I have a long history of ties to Latin America. Some of my best friends are in Latin America.
We need to have comprehensive immigration reform and that means there should be a path for citizenship. And certainly I support the DREAM Act to help all of these young people who were brought here.
It is vitally important that we implement immigration reform. We need a bill that strengthens our borders and protects this nation, but that also makes it simpler for good people to become Americans.
For years, President Obama has chastised Republicans, used immigrants as props for political purposes, and time and again deflected responsibility from his own party's failure to act on immigration reform.
I support comprehensive immigration reform that includes a path to full and equal citizenship for undocumented immigrants who are playing by the rules, staying out of trouble and contributing to our economy.
We should put hardworking families first by voting on legislation to create jobs, raise wages, provide equal pay for women, invest in education, protect voting rights, and pass comprehensive immigration reform.
Republicans can't always agree on where to cut spending. They certainly can't agree on what to do about entitlements. There isn't a unified foreign policy vision, and there's no consensus on immigration reform.
I was very heartened by Rupert Murdoch's passionate interest in immigration reform. He is an immigrant himself. He understands from a business perspective how important immigration reform would be to our economy.
America draws tremendous strength from its diversity, which prompts the question, as Congress contemplates comprehensive immigration reform, why are some lawmakers aiming to curb diversity instead of promoting it?
Lost in the often-vitriolic national quarrel over immigration reform is any examination of proposed measures that would result in excessive punishment, such as detention and deportation, for the most minor offenses.
Immigration reform is for those thousands of people in my district and the millions of people across the country who want nothing more than to work hard, provide for their families, and reach for the American Dream.
Despite his critics, Rubio has skillfully managed the expectations of many conservatives and effectively made his case for immigration reform, while working with other members to continuously improve the legislation.
Lost in much of the national debate about immigration reform is how Democrats ultimately stand to gain electorally with any legislation or executive action that would put the newly legalized residents on a path to voting.
Congressional opposition to immigration reform or emergency funds doesn't stem from any philosophical objections or differences of principle. It stems from a calculated, petty, selfish rejection of anything Obama proposes.
We desperately need comprehensive immigration reform in this nation, and yes, comprehensive immigration reform proposals are nuanced and complicated, but you know what shouldn't be? Our capacity to see each other's humanity.
There's something in the Latino community called 'la promesa de Obama' - Obama's promise. He made very specific promises to the Latino community. He committed to enacting comprehensive immigration reform within his first year.
I will continue to stand strongly with my fellow House Democrats, with immigration reform advocates and with millions of hard-working, law-abiding families who want simply to remain together and contribute to our great country.
In the immigration debate, some things are constant. They never change. One is that opponents of immigration reform will use it as a wedge issue and will blame everything from unemployment to rising health care costs on immigrants.
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.
I think people want immigration reform. I think people want to see a path for citizenship. I don't think we as a country want to discuss this in the way we do. I don't think we want to separate families. I don't think that's part of our values.
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.
As a first generation American myself, I know that comprehensive immigration reform is good for our country. I know it will reduce our deficit, grow our economy, reaffirm our values, advance our ideals, and honor our history as a nation of immigrants.
The Dream Act will be a nightmare for the American people. No doubt, we need immigration reform, but the Dream Act is written far too broadly, and it will only encourage more illegal immigration, promote chain migration, and will be a magnet for fraud.
I would argue that you're only going to get the conservatives, particularly a Republican House, to pass immigration reform if we, as conservatives, are reassured that the border is controlled and that we get to vote on whether the border is controlled.
Sen. Robert Menendez's Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2010 would try to nullify every single state and local law that fights illegal immigration. Congressman Luis Gutierrez's CIR ASAP Act with over 100 Democratic co-sponsors does the same thing.
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.
I... now see a rare opportunity to push across the goal line much of the unfinished business of America: investing in our infrastructure and workers, universal healthcare, comprehensive immigration reform and scrubbing a tax code that's out of shape and behind the times.
In terms of immigration, we're seeing a lot of Democrats and Republicans use the really elastic term, 'Comprehensive Immigration Reform,' and they don't totally understand what that means. For us in El Paso, it's part of a larger discussion about the nature of the border.
We know that the United States Senate has passed comprehensive immigration reform. We know it can happen. And that, to me, is what we need to do. We have a broken immigration system. And I say this because we are a country that has always opened our doors. That's who we are.
Those life experiences that helped shaped my political beliefs are with me in every position I take and every vote that I cast - whether it be in favor of comprehensive immigration reform, strengthening Social Security and Medicare, or improving our nation's education system.
Obama wants to raise the issue of immigration reform so that he can demonize Republicans as anti-Hispanic. That's why Obama ignores the broad support for an immigration plan that would provide border security once and for all and then deal with the illegal immigrants who live here.
I want to be really clear that the Hispanic Caucus - well before my time on that caucus, and certainly before my time as chairwoman - has been very clear that a guiding principle for comprehensive immigration reform, and for issues related to Dreamers, is that a wall is a nonstarter.
Laws are getting passed in states like Alabama that basically would punish American citizens who are 'harboring' people. Since the federal government hasn't been able to muster or to get comprehensive immigration reform passed, states are taking it upon themselves to police and enforce laws.
I actually believe that one of the lessons of 1993 and 1994, as well as 2009 and 2010, is that when a Democratic president has the opportunity - with a Democratic Congress - that you shouldn't wait to push significant legislation, whether it's health care, immigration reform, other measures.
Already we're seeing graduates of U.S. higher education going back to their home countries and contributing to societies there, where in the past they would have stayed in the U.S. and built new companies here. We have to have immigration reform that allows talented foreigners to become Americans.
I see nothing easy in Washington. I see either analytically simple things that are politically complex or those that are politically complex and analytically complex. I mean, look at immigration reform, you know? It is, I think, analytically easy, but politically very, very complex and very difficult.