Charles E. Schumer Quotes

The president has promised greater border security. We can agree to that. A literal wall might not be the most effective means to that end, but we can provide the resources necessary to secure the border with smart and affordable measures.

We believe that there are aspects of border security that Democrats and Republicans can agree on.

Border security is a complex issue and will remain a top priority during the 2007 legislative year. As Congress works to fix this problem, I will continue to push for strong measures that beef up security at our borders.

The Secure Fence Act, which authorizes the construction of 700 miles of security barriers along the southwest border, has now been sent to President Bush for his signature. This piece of legislation is an important piece of the border security puzzle.

Homeland security is a joke if we don’t have border security.

We need a wall or a sophisticated fence, as long as it secures our border.

People think of border security in very different ways, but to me, it's very simple: border security is national security.

What we have to quit talking about is border wall. We need border security.

Building a wall won't solve our border security challenges.

Congress should pass legislation that mandates increased information sharing for any country that wants to participate in the Visa Waiver Program.

As far as a wall is concerned, the experts actually say that in some places a wall is necessary, in other places a double wall is necessary, and in other places that a wall wouldn't help. So I'm for whatever it takes to secure our border with Mexico. We've got to do it. I'm for then enforcing our laws.

I don't have a problem with enhanced border security, perhaps to include fencing. I think the mistake is believing that border security is as simple as just putting up a wall from sea to shining sea.

If Democrats don't want the government to shut down, support border security. It's that simple.

Should we have border security there? Yes. But the idea of the United States erecting a wall for the world to see makes a lie of everything we say about ourselves. It's a little bit like why the President [Barack Obama] and I feel so strongly about closing Guantanamo. It is inconsistent with who we are.

There are important questions about protecting and securing the border, but we don't need to build a wall.

When it comes to immigration, I have actually put more money, under my administration, into border security than any other administration previously. We've got more security resources at the border - more National Guard, more border guards, you name it - than the previous administration. So we've ramped up significantly the issue of border security.

There are a lot of different ways of getting Mexico to contribute to doing this. And there are different ways of defining how exactly they pay for it. [Donald Trump] has a promise that he made to the American people which is to secure our border. A wall is a big part of that.

The secretary of Homeland Security working with myself and my staff will begin immediate construction of a border wall.

I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall.

I introduced bill saying we need more security, we need more scrutiny. Once again, Marco [Rubio] opposed this. So Marco can't have it both ways. He thinks he wants to be this, "Oh, I'm great and strong on national defense." But he's the weakest of all the candidates on immigration. He is the one for an open border that is leaving us defenseless.

I agree that we have to have the toughest screening and vetting that we can have, but I don't think a halt is necessary. What we have to do is put all of our resources through the Department of Homeland Security, through the State Department, through our intelligence agencies, and we have to have an increased vetting and screening .

George W. Bush's position on illegal immigration is a perfect example of a political compromise. A true conservative would have built a border fence, dug a moat and stationed troops on the border long ago.

When I'm president, the Senate bill is not going to be what we're operating off of. It's going to begin by focusing on securing our border first and foremost. And until you do that, you're not going to be able to do anything else.

I'm calling upon president-elect [Donald] Trump to not just settle for a wall.Let's build a fence, then a wall, then a fence, so we create two no man's lands, one on either side of the wall. That way when we pick people up there they don't really have an excuse.

I was part of the gang of eight in the house in 2013 that was working on comprehensive immigration reform. We talked a lot about border security and what was effective and what was not. Walls are not effective when you're out in the desert and you don't need them.