Raja Krishnamoorthi Quotes

I came across this circumstance of undocumented students. These are kids who were brought to this country as youngsters, who are raised as Americans and go to American schools, and then when they graduate high school, they have no prospects in front of them because they are undocumented and illegally in the United States.

Illinois is home to a disproportionate share of Dreamers and would suffer a significant economic blow should they be compelled to leave.

Until he announced his immigration policy last week, Obama had the support of most Hispanic voters - but not the enthusiasm they had shown for him in 2008. That may be changing in part because of the decision not to deport young immigrants whose undocumented parents brought them here as children.

The fact of the matter is, this country is not going to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants. What are we supposed to do with them? What are we supposed to do with these kids?

DACA is a lifeline for individuals who have grown up in the U.S. but who lack immigration papers.

And because he knows that we don't have an ounce of talent to waste, the president took action to lift the shadow of deportation from a generation of young, law-abiding immigrants called dreamers.

Every year, some 65,000 high school students - many of them star students and leaders in their communities - are unable to go to college or get a good job because they have no legal status.

Who are benefits promised to, overwhelmingly? Well, they're promised to older people. And if you have a society like Europe that is upside down where there are a lot more older people than younger people, you have economic calamity.

Legislation is the only lasting solution for the men and women brought to this country through no fault of their own who want to perform the ultimate act of patriotism in defending America.

At the end of the day, it not only doesn't make logical sense to deny licenses to undocumented immigrants, it doesn't make financial sense.

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?

So we still need a permanent fix. The president would sign the Dream Act tomorrow, the next day, the day after that. That's ultimately the only way to fix this, is for congressional action.

We're not going to deport 12 million people, so let's stop this fiction. Let's give them permanent status.

The key here is to be fair to the 11 million [illegal immigrants], starting with the [2 million younger illegals] ‘Dreamers'....I’ve stopped letting 30 percent of the people who are mad about immigration determine how I behave. To those who feel like you should deport [younger illegals], boy, I couldn’t disagree with you more…. To the people who object to this, I don’t want you to vote for me because I cannot serve you well.

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.

What I think you are going to see is with DACA being gone, it gets rid of the magnet of drawing people over here, thinking they are going to come in and get amnesty.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has been clear that deporting young people who have lived in the U.S. for years and were brought here through no fault of their own as children should not be the targets of deportation.

We know in New York we have several million at any one time who are in New York illegally.

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

We should allow DREAMers to declare that they are not criminals, that they want to be here, want to fully participate in their society and get on the books. We should make college, work, and military service available to them.

'Self-deport?' What the heck does that mean?

Passing comprehensive immigration reform and making DACA and DAPA permanent will free people from living in the shadows of fear from deportation to be able to pursue higher education, buy homes, start businesses, and expand our economy and strengthen the communities of the 10th district and our nation.

I would give illegal immigrants already here a three-month grace period to apply for a temporary worker's visa. If they failed to apply within that time frame, they would be considered fugitives, and they would be found and deported.

If we're worried about keeping families together, then the illegal alien parents who brought them here should also be removed to the home country along with the DACA recipient alien.

Each Dreamer in our country is more than a mere statistic; he or she is a proud American in everything but official documentation.