Salma Hayek Quotes

I learned at a very young age that my parents were undocumented.

In Tagalog, we call undocumented people 'TNT,' which means tago ng tago, which means 'hiding and hiding.' So that's literally what undocumented means in Tagalog. And that kind of tells you how Filipinos think of this issue, and really any culture, right?

What person here illegally (and in his right mind), will go to the government, announce being here illegally (e.g. plead guilty), provide all sorts of information as to where that person lives etc. to get a work permit only to be a target for deportation in two years?

My dad was undocumented for a period of time, my mom was also undocumented for a period of time.

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.

Let me tell you who the immigration system in America does not serve. It does not serve you the American people.

I am not the 'illegal' you think I am, and immigration is not what you think it is.

Mexicans are quasi-legal.

I began teaching in New York because I needed to stay in the United States and didn't have my immigration papers in order, so working for a university was a way of resolving the issue.

On the surface, I've created a good life. I've lived the American dream. But I am still an undocumented immigrant.

I do not support driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants.

I’ve yet to see a customer walk out of a restaurant because his dishes were being washed by an illegal alien.

We need employer sanctions to avoid illegal immigration so that legal immigration may dominate.

Thirty-five to forty percent of the people who are not lawfully present in the United States entered the country legally – through student visas, visitor visas, business visas, visa waivers. All of these people entered the country legally, so securing the borders really doesn’t affect that aspect of illegal immigration.

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

When one refers to an immigrant as an "illegal alien," one is using the term as a noun. The user of the term is effectively saying that the individual, as opposed to any actions that the individual has taken, is illegal. The term “illegal alien” implies that a person’s existence is criminal. I’m not aware of any other circumstance in our common vernacular where a crime is considered to render the individual – as opposed to the individual’s actions – as being illegal. We don’t even refer to our most dangerous and vile criminals as being “illegal” people.

We all agree on the need to better secure the border and to punish employers who choose to hire illegal immigrants. We are a generous and welcoming people, here in the United States, but those who enter the country illegally, and those who employ them, disrespect the rule of law and they are showing disregard for those who are following the law.

The federal government is responsible for addressing how to address the status of the estimated 9 to 15 million people who are in the country illegally, but local and state law enforcement can be helpful partners in that regard.

Had my parents not had visas, had my parents not had the resources to hire lawyers, I would be a DREAM Act kid, too.

We need to be talking about things like the DREAM Act. We need to also be talking about e-verify. We also need to be talking about border security.

Everyone that've been here, working, living as Americans - just give them a green card.

I do not support amnesty. I do not support driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants.

I'm an immigrant. I came here when I was 3 months old.

Within the Filipino community, everybody knows somebody who's undocumented.