Kamala Harris Quotes
And so I would not enforce a law that would reject people and turn them away without giving them a fair and due process to determine if we should give them asylum and refuge.
Harris, Kamala. Democratic Presidential Town Hall. CNN, 28 Jan. 2019, Drake University, Des Moines, IA.
At the time immigrants had to live in America 14 years before they were eligible for citizenship. The President urged a reduction in that waiting period which is what was done. This was one of the earliest statements of America as a haven to the oppressed of the world. Note that despite occasional squabbles over land use and theft, the general assessment of the President and the public was that the Indians although not as civilized had welcomed the whites with “hospitality.” The next years would produce the conflict for land and begin the massive usurpation of Indian land that would characterize American policy and practice until the latter half of the 20th century, buy which time there was little Indian land left.
Parker wanted to increase the number of women immigrants
Many in Alabama were distressed that other states were benefitting from the waves of immigrants to America but relatively few were going to Alabama. They wanted more whites to diminish the proportion of Negroes. By the beginning of 21st century, many people in Alabama had turned against immigration as they feared that immigrant Hispanics and Blacks together would be a majority in the state.
At the time, many people referred to immigrants who had entered the United States without the proper documentation or by contravening our laws were referred to as “illegals” or “illegal immigrants”. Bank robbers and rapists were never referred to as “illegals”—only immigrants. Carroll and others pointed out that there was no such thing as an “illegal person”—only illegal acts.
The issue of admission of relatives of citizens had, in the 20th century, become controversial as some political forces worked to restrict immigration. The result of politicizing this issue was that the relatives who would receive immigration priorities would change every time Congress legislated about anything involving immigration and asylum. Immigrants from some countries could have their aunts and uncles get priority while other countries it was only siblings, children and parents. And still others would be children only. There was also racial and ethnic discrimination in that nations with white populations received a broader right to have relatives immigrate than non-white.
Kamala Devi Harris is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well as the first African American and first Asian American vice president. She was an unsuccessful presidential candidate, losing to Donald Trump, in the 2024 presidential election.