Bharati Mukherjee Quotes

Citizenship obtained through naturalization is not a second-class citizenship.

It was a really big deal to become an American citizen the right way. You have to work really hard, and it is such an honor to be able to say that.

The 1986 act didn't turn illegal immigrants into citizens on the spot. It granted temporary resident status only to those who could prove they had resided continuously in America for five years. After 18 months, their status could be upgraded to permanent residency, and only after another five years could they become U.S. citizens.

In the U.S., those requesting a Green Card must take an oath that they will fulfill the rights and duties of citizenship.

I'm not an American citizen, but I live in this country and eventually want to become an American citizen because I love this country so much.

My own wife is from the Philippines and came here legally to this country, and there are a lot of people that want to be part of this nation, and I want them to be part of this nation.

If you want to be part of the American country, then do it legally.

No American should be forced to choose between their spouse and their country.

After this interview, I'm going to immigration to try to sort out my Green Card, just like any other normal person.

I spend more time in New York than the Dominican. I play here, I live here, so why not become a citizen?

We watched the U.S. citizenship immigration services web site in March. They had six million, two hundred thousand hits, and two million people downloaded applications for citizenship. So what we're doing is attempting to help people in that process.

Millions of us, myself included, go back generations in this country, with ancestors who put in the painstaking work to become citizens. So we don't like the notion that anyone might get a free pass to American citizenship.

On immigration reform you don’t get a bill without a path to citizenship .

I doubt if most native born Americans could pass the Citizenship test required of immigrants without a lot of hard study.

I still have a Japanese passport. I haven't become an American citizen, and I am worried about getting deported every day.

I will support a path to citizenship if it does not fall within the definition of amnesty, and we've got to define what amnesty is in this country.

I had my own ups and downs in getting Indian citizenship. But, ultimately I got it and I am happy about it. I like India. My love is here. I am a proud Indian.

I think any immigrant who comes to this country also knows somebody who is undocumented.

My parents were desperately trying to become documented citizens of this country and tried very hard to get there, but to no avail.

I came in as a legal immigrant. My dad came first. We had to wait about a year.

It took me 17 years to become a U.S. citizen.

I never thought that I would come to live in the United States. I was not pursuing the American dream.

We should not blur the lines between legal and illegal immigrants. Millions of people around the world have gone through the process to come here legally and they followed the rules that required them to pay a fee, learn English, and learn about American history and government.

Washington, D.C. is what is broken, not the immigration policies. We have good laws. We have people suffer every day because of government's failure to enforce the law and be respectful to the process we have. We have a pathway to citizenship already in place.

Whether we start with a provisional status and legal permanent residence... or we set up some other way to assimilate legally, you can't ever put in something that says, 'You can never become a citizen.' That's un-American.